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THE LIFE 

OP 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



VOLUME I 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANV 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS 
ATLANTA ■ SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON - BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 



The LIFE of 

ABRAHAM 
LINCOLN 

DRAWN/r^;// original SOURCES 
and containing ma?iy SPEECH ES, 
LETTERS and TELEGRAMS 

hitherto unpublished^ and illustrated 
wit hi many reproductio?is from original 
Painti?igs^ Photographs^ et cetera 
New Edition with New Matter 

V BY 

IDA M. TARBELL 

Volume One 

New York 
The Macmillan Company 

MCMXXIII 

All rights reserved 



£14^5-7 



Copyright, 1895, 1896, 1898, 1899 
By The S. S. McClure Co. 



Copyright, 1900 
By DouBLEDAY & McClure Co. 



Copyright, 1900 
By McClure, Phillips & Co. 



NEW EDITION WITH NEW MATTER 

Copyright, 191 7 

By The Macmillan Company 



To my Father 



PREFACE 



The work here offered the public was begun in 1894 at 
the suggestion of Mr. S. S. McCkire and Mr. J. S. Phillips, 
editors of " McClure's Magazine." Their desire was to add 
to our knowledge of Abraham Lincoln by collecting and pre- 
serving the reminiscences of such of his contemporaries as 
were then living. In undertaking the work it was deter- 
mined to spare neither labor nor money and in this deter- 
mination Mr. McClure and his associates have never wa- 
vered. Without the sympathy, confidence, suggestion and 
criticism which they have given the work it would have been 
impossible. They established in their editorial rooms what 
might be called a Lincoln Bureau and from there an or- 
ganized search was made for reminiscences, pictures and 
documents. To facilitate the work all persons possessing 
or knowing of Lincoln material were asked through the 
Magazine to communicate with the editor. The response 
was immediate and amazing. Hundreds of persons from 
all parts of the country replied. In every case the clews 
thus obtained were investigated and if the matter was found 
to be new and useful was secured. The author wrote thou- 
sands of letters and travelled thousands of miles in collecting 
the material which came to the editor simply as a result of 
this request in the magazine. The work thus became one in 
which the whole country co-operated. 

At the outset it was the intention of the editors to use the 
results of the research simply as a series of unpublished rem- 

« • 

Vll 



vili PREFACE 

iniscences, but after a few months the new material gath- 
ered, while valuable seemed to them too fragmentary to be 
published as it stood, and the author was asked to prepare a 
series of articles on Lincoln covering his life up to 1858 and 
embodying as far as possible the unpublished material col- 
lected. These articles, which appeared in " McClure's 
Magazine " for 1895 and 1896, were received favorably, and 
it was decided to follow them by a series on the later life of 
Lincoln. This latter series was concluded in September, 
1899, and both series, with considerable supplementary mat- 
ter, are published in the present volumes. 

It is impossible in this brief preface to mention all who 
have aided in the work, but there are a few whose names 
must not be omitted, so essential has their assistance been to 
the enterprise. 

From the beginning Mr. J. McCan Davis of Springfield, 
Illinois, has been of great service, particularly in examining 
the files of Illinois newspapers and in interviewing. It is to 
Mr. Davis's intelligent and patient research that we owe the 
report of Lincoln's first published speech, the curious letters 
on the Adams law case, most of the documents of Lincoln's 
early life in New Salem and Springfield, such as his first 
vote, his reports and maps of surveys, his marriage certifi- 
cate and many of the letters printed in the appendix. Mr. 
William H. Lambert of Philadelphia has also assisted us 
constantly by his sympathy and suggestions, and his large 
and valuable Lincoln collection has been freely at our dis- 
posal. Other collections that have been generously opened 
are those of O. H. Oldroyd of Washington, R. T. 
Durrett, Louisville, Ky., C. F. Gunther, Chicago, 111., and 
Louis Vanuxem, Philadelphia, Pa. The War Department 
of the United States Government has extended many cour- 
tesies, the Wat- Records being freely opened and the mem- 
bers of the War Records Commission aiding us in every way 



TREFACE ix 

in their power. The Hbrarians of the War Department, of 
the Congressional Library, of the Boston Pubhc Library and 
of the Astor Library of New York, have also been most 
helpful. 

The chief obligation which any siudent of Abraham Lin- 
coln owes is to the great work of Messrs. Nicolay and Hay. 
In it are collected nearly all the documents essential to a 
study of Lincoln's life. Their History has been freely con- 
sulted in preparing this work and whenever letters and 
speeches of Lincoln appearing in their collection of his 
writings have been quoted, their version has been followed. 
Other lives of Lincoln that have been found useful are those 
of W. H. Herndon, W. O. Stoddard, John T. Morse, Isaac 
Arnold, Ward H. Lamon, H. C. Whitney, and J. G. 
Holland. 

The new material collected will, we believe, add con- 
siderably to our ki owledge of Lincoln's life. Docu- 
ments are presented titablishing clearly that his mother 
was not the nameless girl that she has been so generally 
believed. His father, Thomas Lincoln, is shown to have 
been something more than a shiftless " poor white," and 
Lincoln's early life, if hard and crude, to have been full of 
honest, cheerful effort at betterment. His struggles for a 
hvelihood and his intellectual development from the time he 
started out for himself until he was admitted to the bar are 
traced with more detail than in any other biography, and 
considerable new light is thrown on this period of his life. 
The sensational account of his running away from his own 
wedding, accepted generally by historians, is shown to be 
false. To the period of Lincoln's life from 1849, when he 
gave up politics, until 1858, the period of the Lincoln and 
Douglas Debates, the most important contribution made is 
the report of what is known as the " Lost Speech." 

The second volume of the Life contains as an appendix 



X PREFACE 

196 pages of letters, telegrams and speeches which do not 
appear in Lincoln's " Complete Works," published b}^ his 
private secretaries Messrs. Nicolay and Hay. The great 
majority of these documents have never been published at 
all. The source from which they have been obtained is 
given in each case. 

No attempt has been made to cover the history of Lin- 
coln's times save as necessary in tracing the development 
of his mind and in illustrating his moral qualities. It is 
Lincoln the man, as seen by his fellows and revealed by his 
own acts and words, that the author has tried to picture. 
This has been the particular airn of the second series of 

articles. 

I. M. T. 



PREFACE TO NEW EDITION 

In the 1 7 years since the first edition of this book appeared, 
a continuous stream of new material relating more or less 
directly to Abraham Lincoln has been flowing to the public. 
In the years 1908 and 1909 this stream swelled to river pro- 
portions, fed by the interest in the centenary of his birth. 

One splendid fact outranks all others in this wealth of fresh 
contributions — Our new knowledge leaves us the Lincoln 
we had at the beginning ; the man revealed not only to this 
country but to the world by the tragedy of April, 1865, has 
not been materially changed by fifty years' study. His pre- 
eminence holds in spite of an increasing knowledge of points 
at which he failed. We know him better, but we reverence 
and love him no less. 

He is to-day our national touch-stone as well as the source 
to which liberal statesmen of all lands look for the most perfect 
understanding and expression of the spirit and aims of Democ- 
racy. 

The new materials which have left us our old Lincoln in- 
clude some of the most notable contributions to our knowl- 
edge of him. First should be placed the diary of Gideon 
Welles, probably the greatest personal historical narrative 
yet produced in this country. After Welles come the Reminis- 
cences of Carl Schurz, supplemented by eight volumes of his 
Public Speeches, Correspondence and Political Papers. The 
Gettysburg edition of Lincoln's Complete Works, a revision of 
the original edition edited by Nicolay & Hay, belongs in the 
list, so do Thayer's " Life of John Hay" and Newton's study 
of Lincoln and Herndon, two recent contributions of im- 

xi 



xii PREFACE 

portance, for the fresh material they contain. The stream 
continues. At this writing there is soon to be pubHshed a 
collection of over 300 letters of Lincoln, not to be found in the 
Gettysburg edition. This collection, which we owe to the 
devotion of Mr. Gilbert Tracy, of Putnam, Conn., contains 
at least two score pieces of first rank. 

The collections of Lincolniana have increased not merely in 
size but in intelligent arrangement and selection. When this 
book was prepared, the chief collection was that of Major 
W. H. Lambert, who died on June i, 1912. It was a mis- 
fortune that it was scattered. Happily, a number of pieces 
have gone to swell the gatherings of one of Mr. Lambert's 
chief competitors, Mr. Judd Stewart of Plainfield, N. J. Mr. 
Stewart now has a collection that includes 97 per cent of all 
known publications. Lincoln lovers should see to it that it 
does not meet the fate of Major Lambert's. 

The collection of original Lincoln letters and documents 
owned by Mr. Robert Lincoln, including practically all of the 
manuscripts, letters, and papers published by Nicolay & Hay 
in the first edition of the "Complete Works," is of supreme 
importance. It is to be hoped that Mr. Lincoln will one day 
place this collection in the Congressional Library beside the 
originals of the papers of Washington, Madison, Jefferson, 
Monroe, Jackson, Van Buren, Polk, Pierce, Johnson, 
Harrison, and Cleveland.^ Those who own Lincoln manu- 
scripts could not do better than to arrange as speedily as 
possible to give them whenever Mr. Lincoln shall decide to 
place those in his possession. 

A steady stream of interpretation has run parallel to the 
stream of new materials, much of it commonplace, but not a 
little of real understanding. The most interesting, in the 
writer's judgment, has just come to the public, — Mr. George 
Barnard's statue of Lincoln. This work has already started 
^ The papers of Harrison and Cleveland are still held as confidential. 



PREFACE xiii 

a very fundamental discussion. To my own mind it does 
something that nobody else has done so well in any medium : 
it gives a sense of the profundity of the man — a sense of 
what one discerning observer on first seeing it called, "his 
spiritual resolution." 

The test of the value of these recent contributions is what 
they add to our understanding of Abraham Lincoln and of the 
situation in "which he found himself. That is much. They 
unquestionably enlarge Lincoln, clear up our view of him. 
They put down the strength and the weakness of him over and 
over again. The result is that we know him better and can 
judge him more fairly both as man and leader. 

What this new material has done for Lincoln it has done for 
the scheme of things under which he was obliged to act. 
There has been so far no experience in our national life which 
has so demonstrated where this scheme holds up and where it 
falls down as the Civil War. That episode shows quite clearly 
where we can expect more from our form of government than 
from others, and also where we are in danger of getting less. 

Possibly the best thing we can say of the scheme is that it 
gave us Lincoln. It is very unlikely that any other form of 
government that the world has yet tried could by peaceful 
means have developed his particular genius ; that is, it would 
not have been at once fully available for a crisis under any 
other form of government. His talent would not have had 
the peculiar kind of training which made him so fit for the 
tasks thrust upon him. 

In thi^ new material his failures are emphasized, particularly 
in Welles's narrative. The exhibit there is the more impressive 
because it is more or less unconscious on Welles's part, and 
because from the start he believed that Lincoln was, as he 
says, "a gentle, good and great man." The impression that 
one who had not studied the history of the Civil War with 
Lincoln's own letters and speeches in hand would get from 



XIV 



PREFACE 



Wclles's narrative is that of a man stumbling through a 
quagmire, pretending to lead, but really clinging to the coat 
tails of his Secretary of State. 

Welles's portrait of Seward is true, if one-sided. He is 
naturally over insistent of the worst side of Seward, since it 
constantly thwarted and hindered him. Seward's meddle- 
someness, his opportunism, his overwhelming desire to have 
Washington, particularly the Army and Navy and diplomatic 
Washington, believe that he was running the government, 
constantly irritated Welles. He was a busy-body and in- 
triguer, who muddled things for everybody. The Lincoln of 
Welles's narrative does not see this, nor understand that he is 
being handled by a mind really inferior to his own. Yet we 
know from Lincoln's letters that he discovered Seward's pro- 
pensity before any of his colleagues, and that he had in writing 
in less than a month after the Inauguration put him in his 
place. 

Mr. Seward knew Lincoln as his master, but he took good 
care that nobody but Lincoln should know that he so recog- 
nized him. His colleagues. Congress, the country, grew in 
the conviction that Lincoln was being bullied and deceived. 
Lincoln's own influence was lessened in many quarters as this 
conviction grew. Behind this apparent weakness was in 
reality strength. It was one of his ways of working out his 
chief value to the country, and that value was his clear sense 
from the start that it was our democratic scheme that was at 
stake, and that if it was to be saved, every man who could aid 
must be helped to give all that was in him. 

Nothing will ever be discovered which will add to the 
perfect form into which he crystallized this deepest thing in 
his soul in the Gettysburg speech, but a multitude of recent 
details show how the idea guided him in handling men 
and led him to put aside in cases like Seward's his natural 
resentment and hurt pride. 



PREFACE XV 

He seems to have put it something Hke this to himself : 
"Everybody in the country has had a part in bringing this 
thing about ; everybody feels he has a right to say how things 
shall be handled ; everybody that is worth his salt is going to 
exercise that right, and he is going to do it according to the 
kind of man he is — according to his temperament, his train- 
ing, his self-control, his meanness, and his goodness. If we 
are going to put this thing through and prove that men can 
govern themselves, we must get from them what they can 
give, and we must let them give it in their own way." 

What this meant for him in practice was a shrewd calculation 
of how much he must put up with, how far he could safely go in 
allowing himself to be misjudged as in Seward's case, insulted 
as by McClellan, abused as by Greeley, sneered at as by the 
military authorities. 

Men close to Lincoln at the time, and men reading history 
since, have wondered why he refused to publish the whole of 
his correspondence with Greeley over the peace fiasco at 
Niagara Falls in July, 1864. Greeley characteristically 
blamed Lincoln for the failure. The correspondence would 
have cleared him, but it would have shown that Greeley 
had lied. Moreover, it would have shown that Greeley was 
willing to sacrifice everything for Peace. In Lincoln's judg- 
ment that would have been "a disaster equal to the loss of a 
great battle." It would have been pulling a prop out from 
the Union Cause. It was better that he himself should be 
misunderstood and abused than that confidence in the Editor 
of the Tribune should be lost. 

It was quite as much calculation as large-mindedncss that 
made him keep so carefully from his colleagues the preposter- 
ous suggestions of Mr. Seward in April, 1861, to invite a Euro- 
pean War and to take over the government. To have allowed 
this to leak out even to members of his cabinet would have 
weakened the Secretary. What he wanted was to minimize 



xvi PREFACE 

as much as possible the harmful effect of Seward's effort to 
give to everybody the notion that it was he and not Mr, 
Lincoln who was at the head of affairs. 

The more one knows of his handling of similar, if less con- 
spicuous cases, the greater the respect for his native talent for 
understanding men, and for the exercise he had given it 
through his life. He read men of all kinds ; he had always 
had the habit of reading them. His sympathy for human 
nature made him understand numbers of things that the un- 
sympathetic, self-centred, however highly trained, never see. 
He seems to have had as nearly a universal human sympathy 
as any one in history. A man could not be so high or so low 
that Lincoln could not meet him. He could not be so much 
of a fool, or so many kinds of a fool. He could listen unruffled 
to cant, to violence, to criticism, just and unjust. Amazingly 
he absorbed from each the real thing he had to offer, annexed 
him by showing him that he understood, and yet gave him 
somehow a sense of the impossibility of considering him alone, 
and leaving out the multitudes of other men, as convinced and 
as loyal. 

Mr. Lincoln shows this admirably in the way he held that 
buoyant young radical idealist, Carl Schurz, to him. Schurz 
was the most romantic figure in the country. His service in 
making clear just what all the trouble was about, his passion 
for the Union as well as his hatred of slavery, Lincoln valued 
highly ; but Schurz had the overconfidcnce of the young 
revolutionist. It was he who knew most and best. In his 
zeal for freedom he was prone to suspect the motives of others, 
particularly if they did not agree with him. Recently pub- 
lished letters of Schurz make a beautiful picture of wisdom, 
reflection, and experience handling and saving to the cause 
the ardent, self-confident assertive spirit of idealistic youth. 

Just as Lincoln won and held this fiery young Teuton revo- 
lutionist, he held Sumner, the most highly trained and cul- 



PREFACE xvii 

tivated radical of the time, the one in the country who came 
nearest to a high type of EngHsh cultivation. He seems to 
have been able to attach the superior of each kind to him. 

A more delicate task than Schurz or Sumner or Seward 
was getting something from the large group who wanted to 
save the Union, but were unwilling that Lincoln should have 
a hand in the saving. It was willing to go to any lengths to 
throw contempt on his policies. In spite of the danger that 
beset the Union, in spite of the fact that Lincoln was for the 
time being leader, they were determined to demonstrate his 
unfitness by making it impossible for him to solve any prob- 
lem. This revolting and discouraging feature of party govern- 
ment never showed itself in a more hateful form than during 
the Civil War. All of the new material makes clear what a 
sad exhibit a free press can make of itself in times of great 
public calamity. Editors and writers are expected to report 
and interpret public events. In 1861 they immediately and 
without preparation set themselves up also as military experts 
and authorities on international law. They made up in 
intolerance and noisy insistence what they lacked in knowl- 
edge. 

What was true of the press was true of all of the organized 
agencies for influencing the public. They were all for saving 
the Union, but saving it each in his own way, and when that 
way differed from that of Mr. Lincoln and his colleagues, 
they were not for helping him to clearer and better ways, but 
for hindering to the utmost of their ability. 

Lincoln's greatness of mind, as well as the profundity of his 
understanding of the democratic scheme, come out finally in 
his attitude towards these efforts to hinder his policies. He of 
course had had political experience which made him expect 
the average man in the opposition to feel free to ridicule, 
thwart, and ruin his efforts. He was not their man. But I 
doubt if Lincoln could have realized how the silliness, 



xviii PREFACE 

obstinacy, selfishness, and vindictiveness which the party 
system arouses and justifies even in first-rate minds, would 
show themselves in men who were committed to him in the 
effort to save the Union. 

One loud and insistent criticism was that he was filling 
places of importance with Democrats. Schurz voiced this 
criticism as eloquently as anybody and had the manliness to 
put it directly to the President. His first letter was in the 
fall of 1862, just after the election. The administration had 
fared badly. Schurz wrote Lincoln, "The defeat of the ad- 
ministration is the administration's own fault. 

"It admitted its professed opponents to its counsels. It 
placed the Army, now a great power in this Republic, into the 
hands of its enemies. In all personal c^uestions to be hostile 
to the party of the Government seemed to be a title to con- 
sideration. It forgot the great rule, that, if you are true to 
your friends, your friends will be true to you, and that you 
make your enemies stronger by placing them upon an equality 
with your friends. Is it surprising that the opponents of the 
administration should have got into their hands the govern- 
ment of the principal States after they have had for so long a 
time the principal management of the war, the great business 
of the National Government?" 

Lincoln's reply to this letter was first published in 1913 in 
Schurz's papers. In the course of it he says: "The plain 
facts, as they appear to me, are these. The administration 
came into power, very largely in a minority of the popular 
vote. Notwithstanding this, it distributed to its party 
friends as nearly all the civil patronage as any administration 
ever did. The war came. The administration could not 
even start in this, without assistance outside of its party. 
It was mere nonsense to suppo.se a minority could put down 
a majority in rebellion. Mr. Schurz (now Gen. Schurz) was 
about here then, and I do not recollect that he then considered 



PREFACE xix 

all who were not republicans, were enemies of the government, 
and that none of them must be appointed to military positions. 
He will correct me if I am mistaken. It so happened that 
very few of our friends had a military education or were of the 
profession of arms. It would have been a question whether 
the war should be conducted on military knowledge, or on 
political affinity, only that our own friends (I think Mr. 
Schurz included) seemed to think that such a question was 
inadmissable. Accordingly I have scarcely appointed a demo- 
crat to a command, who was not urged by many republicans 
and opposed by none. It was so as to McClellan. He was 
first brought forward by the Republican Governor of Ohio & 
claimed, and contended for at the same time by the Repub- 
lican Governor of Pennsylvania. I received recommenda- 
tions from the republican delegations in Congress, and I 
believe every one of them recommended a majority of demo- 
crats. But, after all, many Republicans were appointed ; and 
I mean no disparagement to them when I say I do not see 
that their superiority of success has been so marked as to 
throw great suspicion on the good faith of those who are not 
Republicans." 

This did not entirely settle the matter with Schurz. His 
ardor led him to write a long, defensive reply. It drew from 
Lincoln an admirable answer, published many years ago. 
Schurz probably had in mind this correspondence when in his 
thoughtful essay on Lincoln he wrote, "There are men now 
living who would to-day read with amazement if not regret 
what they then ventured to say or write to him." 

The climax of this episode, so revealing of the man, is given 
by Schurz in his Reminiscences. Two or three days after Mr. 
Lincoln's second letter, a special messenger came to the Gen- 
eral, asking him to come to Washington as soon as his duties 
would permit. Schurz went at once. He describes what 
happened. "Mr. Lincoln was seated in an arm-chair before 



XX 



PREFACE 



the open-grate fire, his feet in gigantic morocco slippers. He 
greeted me cordially as of old and bade me pull up a chair and 
sit by his side. Then he brought his large hand with a slap 
down on my knee and said with a smile: 'Now tell me, 
young man, whether you really think that I am as poor 
a fellow as you have made me out in your letter.' I must 
confess, this reception disconcerted me. I looked into his 
face and felt something like a big lump in my throat. After 
a while I gathered up my wits and after a word of sorrow, if 
I had written anything that could have pained him, I explained 
to him my impressions of the situation and my reasons for 
writing to him as I had done. He listened with silent atten- 
tion and when I had stopped, said very seriously: 'Well, I 
know that you are a warm anti-slavery man and a good friend 
to me. Now let me tell you all about it.' Then he unfolded 
in his peculiar way his view of the then existing state of affairs, 
his hopes and his apprehensions, his troubles and embarrass- 
ments, making many quaint remarks about men and things. 
I regret I cannot remember all. Then he described how the 
criticisms coming down upon him from all sides chafed him, 
and how my letter, although containing many points that were 
well founded and useful, had touched him as a terse summing- 
up of all the principal criticisms and offered him a good chance 
at me for a reply. Then, slapping my knee again, he broke 
out in a loud laugh and exclaimed : 'Didn't I give it to you 
hard in my letter? Didn't I? But it didn't hurt, did it? I 
did not mean to, and therefore I wanted you to come so 
quickly.' 

He had to meet the incessant charge that he was playing 
the dictator. Equally he had to meet the cry that what we 
needed was a dictator. Lincoln's attitude toward both is 
particularly worth considering at this moment, and it is in 
admirable keeping with his large, tolerant, humorous sense of 
men and things. 



PREFACE 



XXI 



It is quite clear that he was not afraid of the people mis- 
understanding him when he exercised powers, however un- 
usual, that he thought essential to the single aim he had in 
view — the saving of the Union. He stated his policy in 
regard to the measures to be taken to suppress the revolution 
in his first annual message to Congress : "The Union must be 
preserved ; and hence all indispensable means must be em- 
ployed. We should not be in haste to determine that radical 
and extreme measures, which may reach the loyal as well as 
the disloyal, are indispensable." 

If these "extreme measures" were in his judgment indis- 
pensable, he used them serenely. "It is said, the devil takes 
care of his own," he wrote in one case ; "much more should a 
good spirit — the spirit of the Constitution and the Union — 
take care of its own. I think it cannot do less and Uve." 

This thesis he held until the end — re-expressing it again 
and again, but never more forcibly or pungently than in 
defending the arrest of Vallandigham. 

"If I be wrong on this question of constitutional power, 
my error lies in believing that certain proceedings are con- 
stitutional when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public 
safety requires them, which would not be constitutional 
when, in absence of rebellion or invasion, the public safety 
does not require them : in other words, that the Constitu- 
tion is not in its application in all respects the same in 
cases of rebellion or invasion involving the public safety, as 
it is in times of profound peace and public security. The 
Constitution itself makes the distinction, and I can no more 
be persuaded that the government can constitutionally take 
no strong measures in time of rebellion because it can be 
shown that the same could not be lawfully taken in time 
of peace, than I can be persuaded that a particular drug 
is not good medicine for a sick man because it can be 
shown not to be good food for a well one. Nor am I able 



xxii PREFACE 

to appreciate the danger apprehended by the meeting, that 
the American people will by means of military arrests during 
the rebellion lose the right of public discussion, the liberty 
of speech and the press, the law of evidence, trial by jury, 
and habeas corpus throughout the indefinite peaceful future 
which I trust lies before them, any more than I am able to 
believe that a man could contract so strong an appetite for 
emetics during temporary illness as to persist in feeding upon 
them during the remainder of his healthful life." 

It was in the army that the demand for a dictator cropped 
up most frequently, and Lincoln expressed his attitude toward 
it best in a letter to Hooker written at the time he appointed 
him to supersede Burnside. It is not a new letter, but at this 
particular time it has a new ring. The President had told 
Hooker frankly what he considered the General's good points, 
and equally frankly he followed this list with what he con- 
sidered the General's weaknesses, and added : 

"I have heard, in such a way as to believe it, of your recently 
saying that both the army and the government needed a 
dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite of it, 
that I have given you the command. Only those generals 
who gain successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of 
you is military success and I will risk the dictatorship." 

It would be difficult to find anywhere a better putting of 
the attitude of the people in a democracy towards powerful 
men whom they have put into positions of responsibility. 
One can almost hear the people of the United States saying 
to-day as Lincoln heard them say it : "Go ahead and give us 
victory and we will risk the dictatorship." 

It is possible that Lincoln was less prepared for the vindictive 
intrigues within his own household than for the embarrass- 
ments which meddlesomeness like Seward's or criticism like 
Schurz's caused him. He was never a vindictive man. 
All his life he had studiously avoided quarrels. Some very 



PREFACE xxiii 

interesting expressions in regard to this have come out in this 
material of the last ten years. There is a new letter in the 
Tracy collection written in 1845 when the nomination to 
Congress in his district was in dispute. Because of past 
promises, Lincoln thought it should go to him. His friend 
Harden was inclined to break the compact. Lincoln was 
wiUing to fight, but not to the point of quarrel, and he cau- 
tioned his friends, "It will be just all we can do to keep out of 
a quarrel." That was always a first consideration — not to 
quarrel. 

He had ample reason in the war to see that this trait was 
unusual. He thought it singular, Hay heard him say the 
night they were receiving the election returns of 1S64, that 
he who was not a vindictive man should have always been 
before the people for election in canvasses marked for their 
bitterness. He evidently had the same idea in mind when 
that same night he said to Assistant Secretary of the Navy 
Fox, who was rejoicing over the defeat of two especially bitter 
enemies of the administration, " You have more of that 
feeling of personal resentment than I. Perhaps I may have 
too little of it, but I never thought it paid. A man has not 
time to spend half his life in quarrels. If any man ceases to 
attack me, I never remember the past against him." 

I doubt very much if Lincoln was prepared for the explosive 
and vindictive quality which several of his colleagues showed. 
Stanton was one of these. There is no question that Stanton 
attempted to minimize failures in the Army by exaggerating 
the failures of the Navy, underestimating its success, and 
over-estimating its failure. Lincoln took his men sure early, 
and was able to get from him the best he had to give. 

Welles's story of the panic Stanton aroused in the President 
over the Merrimac shows well how his mind worked in his 
dealings with such men. Stanton had a horrible scare over 
the Confederate boat. He was sure that it was going to 



xxiv PREFACE 

destroy the entire navy of the North and lay every coast city 
under contributions, but before it did this, it would destroy 
Washington and disperse Congress. 

In his fright, going over Mr. Welles's head, Stanton actually 
advised that the Boston and New York ports, as well as the 
Potomac, should be plugged up by sinking stone boats. The 
boats were under preparation for closing the Potomac when Mr. 
Welles, learning it, came to the White House. He found there 
that Stanton had ordered fifty or sixty canal boats loaded with 
stone to be sunk in the channel. Lincoln had sanctioned this 
order. Welles explained to Mr. Lincoln that there was no 
reason to suppose that the Merrimac could get over the shoals ; 
moreover that as the chief concern so far in the war had 
been to keep the river open for the sake of the Army of the 
Potomac, to close it permanently might be much more serious 
than a visit from the Merrimac. Lincoln's common-sense 
reasserted itself, and his scare seems to have calmed. He real- 
ized at once both the folly and impropriety of what Stanton 
had led him into. Later he settled Stanton's interference with 
the navy by one of his incomparable remarks. The President 
and a party of the cabinet were going down the river a few days 
after the episode, when they passed the sixty or so stone-loaded 
boats which Mr. Stanton had ordered out, and which Lincoln's 
lucky return to common-sense had side-tracked. "That is 
Stanton's navy," Lincoln said ; "it is useless as the paps of a 
man to a sucking child. There may be some show to amuse 
the child, 1)ut they are good for nothing for service." 

He lived in a world of intrigue. That a man who himself 
was so incapable of intrigue should have been able so to sense 
what the men whom he gathered into his cabinet, and before 
whom he was really humble, were about is an unending marvel. 
But he did understand them, and the legitimate cunning with 
which he could handle a serious intrigue when it came to the 
last phase is a pure intellectual joy. 



PREFACE XXV 

A vivid picture of this is given in the entries in Welles's 
Diary, tracing the resentment against Seward, which crystal- 
lized at the end of 1862 by an almost unanimous vote in the 
Republican caucus that the President should be asked to re- 
move him. When Seward's friends informed him, he was 
overwhelmed with surprise. With the fatuity of the over- 
ambitious man he had not suspected how obvious his manoeu- 
vres were both to his colleagues in the administration and to 
Washington in general. A goodly body of members of Con- 
gress had come to the point where they felt that it was their 
duty to protest against what they believed was his too great 
influence over the President. This, says Welles, "was the 
point and pith of their complaint." Surprised, chagrined, 
but quite big enough to understand that it was a matter for 
the President, he sent in his resignation. Mr. Lincoln was 
perplexed. He felt that the action of the senators who were 
conducting this matter was an interference with executive 
authority which must not be countenanced. He told Welles 
that if it succeeded, the whole government "could not stand, 
could not hold water ; the bottom would be out." But since 
he felt it his supreme duty to hold everybody to the cause, he 
was unwilling to antagonize any more than possible the group 
demanding that Seward should go. 

He heard them ; he talked with all concerned ; he soon 
discovered that there had been considerable influence exerted 
against Seward by members of his own cabinet ; somebody 
there had complained of Seward's practice of discouraging 
regular cabinet meetings and of holding back information 
from the members when it did meet, of his pose of settling 
things independently of the President and his associates. 
Lincoln, in the general airing of things which he conducted, 
came to see that certainly Mr. Chase and possibly Mr. Stan- 
ton had had something to do with stirring up the trouble. 

In the excitement some one suggested that the whole cabinet 



xxvi PREFACE 

resign. Welles refused. This was no time, in his judgment, 
to make things worse by such an exodus, but it was entirely 
in keeping that Stanton and Chase should bring their resigna- 
tions. Welles pictures in his diary the extraordinary mo- 
ment when Lincoln saw with lightning rapidity his way out. 
Chase had informed the President that he had prepared his 
resignation. " ' Where is it? ' said the President quickly, his 
eye lighting up in a moment. ' I brought it with me,' said 
Chase, taking the paper from his pocket ; ' I wrote it this 
morning.' ' Let me have it,' said the President, reaching his 
long arm and lingers towards Chase, who held on, seeming!}' 
reluctant to part with the letter, which was sealed, and which 
he apparently hesitated to surrender. Something further he 
wished to say, but the President was eager and did not perceive 
it, but took and hastily opened the letter. 

" ' This,' said he, looking towards me with a triumphal 
laugh, ' cuts the Gordian knot.' An air of satisfaction 
spread over his countenance such as I had not seen for some 
time. ' I can dispose of this subject now without diffi- 
culty,' he added, as he turned on his chair ; ' I see my way 
clear.' 

" Chase sat by Stanton, fronting the fire ; the President 
beside the fire, his face towards them, Stanton nearest him. 
I was on the sofa near the east window. While the President 
was reading the note, which was brief. Chase turned round 
and looked towards me, a little perplexed. He would, I 
think, have been better satisfied could this interview with the 
President have been without the presence of others, or at 
least if I was away. The President was so delighted, that he 
saw not how others were affected. 

"'Mr. President,' said Stanton, with solemnity, 'I in- 
formed you day before yesterday that I was ready to tender 
m\- resignation. I wish you, sir, to consider my resignation 
at this time in your possession.' 



PREFACE xxvii 

" ' You may go to your dcj^artment,' said the President ; ' I 
don't want yours. This,' holding Chase's letter, ' is all I 
want ; this relieves me ; my way is clear ; the trouble is 
ended. I will detain you no longer.' " 

Nobody understood what it meant. They all went off 
reluctantly and perplexedly. Chase obviously feeling that 
the President was going to turn both him and Seward out. 
He had assisted in preparing a boomerang for himself. 
This was clear enough two days later when the Prcsidcn'. an- 
nounced that Mr. Seward and Mr. Chase had resigned their 
portfolios, but that he had asked them to continue at their 
posts. Everybody was taken by surprise. It was not part 
of the intrigue that Chase should resign, and his friends, 
who had been insisting on Seward's going, were particularly 
disgusted. 

It was this quality of divining the elements of an intrigue 
and of almost instantaneously putting his finger on the spring 
which would loosen it that is most astonishing in a man of 
Lincoln's temperament and training. 

The part that humor played in handling these situations 
cannot, I think, be overestimated. It was a part of the man, 
as natural as his melancholy, or his necessity of seeing things 
clearly and stating them so that everybody could understand. 
It bubbled up through things like one of those warm springs 
that one sometimes comes upon in a rugged, rocky field. The 
way it explained, cleared up, settled, is almost unbelievable. 
It puts humor higher among human powers than any other 
exhibit, so far as I know. This is partly because it was so 
kind; not that it was without satire. There was much, but 
usually it was a clear, friendly light. It found its expression 
in common things, the expression of the man to whom all 
human exhibits, all physical things are clean, to whom nothing 
is coarse or wrong that is natural. 

His zest in things, in everything, one might say, counted for 



xxviii PREFACE 

much in all these difficulties. It is to mistake Lincoln to 
over-emphasize his melancholy and his travail of spirit. That 
they were his constant companions is true, but they were not 
alone, or did they dominate his soul. His enormous interest 
in life and men held them under. This unflagging curiosity 
and sympathy made him the most likable of men. Thayer, 
by his excellent use of Hay's letters and diary, has succeeded 
in giving a fresh and delightful impression of his lovable- 
ness. The very titles by which Hay and Nicolay spoke of the 
President — the "Ancient," the "Tycoon" — hint at their 
affection. The little descriptions Hay drops of Lincoln taking 
a hearty part in everyday happenings are particularly reveal- 
ing. Those of us who have learned our Lincoln from the 
books have hardly pictured him as Hay does, dishing out oys- 
ters at a late informal supper, or as sitting in a private box at 
a concert with his gay young secretary carrying on a "hefty 
flirtation with the M girls in the flies" ! ! 

Hay's appreciation of the goodness and bigness of him grew 
constantly. He realized, if many others did not, the firmness 
of the hand on the wheel. "The Tycoon is in fine whack. 
I hav'e rarely seen him more serene and busy. He is managing 
this war, the draft, foreign relations, and planning a recon- 
struction of the Union, all at once. I never knew with what a 
tyrannous authority he rules the Cabinet till now. The most 
important things he decides, and there is no cavil," and then : 
"What a man it is! Occupied all day with matters of vast 
moment, deeply anxious about the fate of the greatest army 
of the world, with his own plans and future hanging on the 
events of the passing hour, he yet has such a wealth of simple 
bonhomie and good fellowship that he gets out of bed and 
perambulates the house in his shirt to find us, that we may 
share with him the fun of poor Hood's queer little conceits." 

It has always been difficult for those unfortunate people 
who regard education as possible only through schools and 



PREFACE xxix 

social contacts to understand how Lincoln was able without 
college training or travel to understand so thoroughly the 
thought and opinion of ail sections of the country. As a 
truth, there was nobody who understood so well how all the 
people were thinking or why they thought as they did. These 
people will find a clew to their puzzle not onl}' in Newton's 
detailed study of the intellectual activities of Lincoln and his 
law partner Herndon in the years preceding the war, but in a 
still more recent volume of personal reminiscences of unusual 
character by Henry B. Rankin of Springfield, Illinois. Mr. 
Rankin was in the office of the firm from 1850 to 1861. He 
says that as he looks back on this experience the circumstance 
which most impresses him is the way in which Lincoln and 
Herndon steadfastly kept the political affairs of the whole 
nation under attention ; using all sources, and in their private 
conferences and discussions with each other, reviewing and 
sifting all conflicting opinions on national questions that 
came to their office table from North and South, East and 
West. 

" Had they foreseen the political and executive battles 
before Mr. Lincoln, his preparation could not have been more 
thorough, exact, and comprehensive to fit him for his Presi- 
dency in 1861-65. It was his wish that led to their subscrib- 
ing for Southern papers and periodicals, and he was a more 
diligent reader of these than his partner. The latter had first 
supplied the office table with the leading Abolitionist papers 
of the North. It was their first discussions on the extreme 
opinions which Northern papers presented, that brought the 
Southern views represented in the Southern papers to the 
office table. This was Mr. Lincoln's suggestion and choice, 
for, as he then expressed it, 'Let us have both sides on our 
table. Each is entitled to its day in court.' 

"Besides the full use of all the Illinois State Journal's 
exchanges, they took regularly at the office, up to the closing 



XXX PREFACE 

of southern mails by the Confederate States in 1861, the 
Charleston Mercury, the Richmond Enquirer, and the Louis- 
ville Journal, also the Southern Literary Messenger, an able 
monthly political and literary magazine, formerly edited by 
Edgar A. Poe, and later by Hon. J. R. Thompson. This was a 
periodical of unusual ability, published at Richmond, Virginia, 
and he gave no periodical that came to the office the attention 
he did to this. He had preserved an accumulation of these 
Southern Literary Messengers on top of one of the office 
presses, and he directed my attention to them a few weeks 
before setting out for Washington, while sorting up odds and 
ends about the office, saying he wished me to take charge of 
and have them bound and kept for him until his return to the 
office life again, which he often spoke of as being his intention. 
This I did, and they are now in my library." 

The soundness of Lincoln's education becomes more and 
more clear, the more we know of the man. It is true he had no 
training in handling men or affairs in an orderly fashion. He 
did not know what system meant. So far as delegating tasks, 
or seeing that things were kept ship-shape, he was still in the 
White House the New Salem postmaster, who carried the 
mail in his hat, the Springfield lawyer whose idea of filing was 
tersely revealed in the legend attached to a bundle of his 
papers, "When you can't find it, anywhere else, look into 
this." 

Lincoln never had any desire to impose his way of doing 
things upon other men. He never saw them as parts of a 
machine which he was to run. He liked to talk with them 
as the spirit moved, and he felt that way about his cabinet. 
It was very difficult throughout his administration to hold 
regular meetings. This probably was less his than Seward's 
fault, but it was his fault that he did not overrule Seward. 
There was always around the White House a great deal of 
back-stair gossip, of intrigue, confusion, and contradictory 



PREFACE xxxi 

orders, a great deal of encroaching by Seward and Stanton 
on other departments, all of which might have been avoided 
by a more vigorous administrating hand. The kind of thing 
Mr. Lincoln was doing was vastly more important than the 
kind of thing which he did not do, but what he did not do 
caused confusion and gave opportunity for the intriguers. It 
often bewildered the country. The average man thinks, if the 
machine is running smoothly, that there is a power and pur- 
pose and wisdom behind. The power and purpose and wisdom 
were behind, but the confusion sometimes obscured them. 
With a little more training this might have been avoided. 

The indictments brought against Lincoln for inefficient 
administration, for interfering with the army, for going 
beyond strict executive powers, have backing. It is curious, 
however, how little these things affect our judgment of him. 
They leave him where he has long been in the popular mind. 
Possibly they leave him greater, since we see how he did in the 
end dominate without the aid of the conventional training 
which would have prevented many mistakes. These things 
have no more effect on our judgment of him as a states- 
man than the insistent effort that has been made to prove that 
he or his mother was born out of wedlock, or that he ran away 
from his own wedding, have on our opinion of him as a man. 
One must want to believe both of these charges very badly in 
order to set aside the mass of evidence against them. That 
is, they both seem to have been built up so far mainly on a 
desire to believe, rather than on trustworthy evidence. 

But supposing they are true, it makes no difference in our 
reverence for the man. It no more changes our opinion of him 
than it changes our feeling for Washington to be told that 
he could fly into a passionate rage and curse like a pirate. 
Though failing at many points as an administrator, Lincoln 
still remains the great leader. Though there are possible slips 
in his life, he is still the great man and the great gentleman. 



xxxii PREFACE 

Through him more than through any other man yet devel- 
oped in this country we are coming to reaUze what it means to 
be a useful leader in a democracy. The more one knows of 
him the better one understands how fully the scheme must be 
accepted if a man is to succeed with the people. Lincoln 
actually beUeved that popular government was practical. 
He actually listened to the people. He knew them so well 
that he understood what they said when he listened. He 
knew that he could not fool them in the long run, and he never 
tried to do so. Democracy to him was a series of practical 
truths, things to do as well as to say. His faith stood the test 
of his terrible experiences in the Civil War. Perhaps no man 
ever had more reason for disillusionment with men and their 
institutions, but to the end he kept his faith in both, and he 
left behind an achievement and an expression which is so lar 
the world's best guide in government by the people. 



CONTENTS 



29 



45 



CHAPTER PAOB 

I. The Origin of the Lincoln Family — The Lincolns in 

Kentucky — Birth of Abraham Lincoln - _ | 

n. The Lincolns leave Kentucky for Southern Indiana — 

Conditions of life in their new home - - - 18 

IIL Abraham Lincoln's early opportunities — The books he 
read— Trips to New Orleans — Impression he made on 
his friends -.___. 

IV. The Lincolns leave Indiana — The journey to Illinois- 
Abraham Lincoln starts out for himself 
V. Lincoln secures a position— He studies grammar — First 

appearance in politics - - - - "59 

VI. The Black Hawk war — Lincoln chosen captain of a 
company — Re-enUsts as an independent ranger — End 
of the war """"-- 73 

VII. Lincoln runs for State assembly and is defeated — Store- 
keeper — Student — Postmaster — Surveyor - - 8g 
VIII. Electioneering in Illinois in 1834— Lincoln reads law- 
First term as assemblyman— Lincoln's first great 
sorrow ---.-.. jog 
IX. Lincoln is re-elected to the Illinois assembly — His first 
published address — Protests against pro slavery reso- 
lutions of the assembly ----- 224 
X. Lincoln begins to study law — Mary Owens — A news- 
paper contest — Growth of political influence - - 147 
xxxiii 



1 



xxxiv CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAOB 

XL Lincoln's engagement to Mary Todd— Breaking of the 

engagement — Lincoln-Shields duel - - _ 170 

XIL Lincoln becomes a candidate for Congress and is de- 
feated — On the stump in 1844 — Nominated and 
elected to the 30th Congress - _ - - iq;j 

XIIL Lincoln in Washington in 1847 — He opposes the Mexi- 
can war — Campaigning in New England - - 207 
XIV. Lincoln at Niagara — Secures a patent for an inven- . 
tion — Abandons politics and decides to devote him- 
self to the law ------ 225 

XV. Lincoln on the circuit — His humor and persuasiveness 
— His manner of preparing cases, examining wit- 
nesses, and addressing juries - - - - 241 

XVL Lincoln's important law cases — Defence of a slave girl 
— The McCormick case — The Armstrong murder 
case — The Rock Island bridge case - - - 257 

XVII. Lincoln re-enters politics ----- 279 

XVIII. The Lincoln-Douglas debates - . - - 301 

XIX. Lincoln's nomination in i860 - - - - 334 

XX. The campaign of i860 - - - . - 359 

XXL Mr. Lincoln as President-elect . « • - 387 



ILLUSTRATIOlsrs 



PAGE 

Abraham Lincoln Frotitispiece 

The Home of Abraham Lincoln, Grandfather of the President. 

facing- 4 

P'acsimile of Will of Joseph Hanks facing 6 

Map of New Salem, Illinois 9 

Facsimile of the Marriage Bond of Thomas Lincoln 11 

Return of Marriage of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks 12 

Facsimile of the Appointment of Thomas Lincoln as Road Sur- 
veyor 13 

Two Views of Rock Spring Farm facing 16 

House in which Abraham Lincoln was Born facing 20 

Facsimile of the Record of the Lincoln Family Made by Abraham 

Lincoln in the Family Bible 23 

Thomas Lincoln's Bible facing 28 

Fragment from a Leaf of Lincoln's Exercise-book 31 

Facsimile of Lines from Lincoln's Copy-book 42 

The Grave of Nancy Hanks facing 46 

The Kirkham's Grammar Used by Lincoln at New Salem, .facing 64 
Map Showing Lincoln's Supposed Line of March in Black Hawk 

War 85 

Facsimile of a Letter Written by Lincoln 97 

Facsimile of a Report of a Road Survey by Lincoln 102 

Facsimile of a Map made by Lincoln of Road in Menard County, 

Illinois . 103 

Grave of Ann Rutledge in Oakland Cemetery facing 1 16 

Facsimile of a Map of Albany, Illinois, Made by Lincoln 131 

XXXV 



xxxvi ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Map of Illinois, Illustrating a System of Internal Improvements, 

1834 135 

Facsimile of Page from Stuart & Lincoln's Fee Book 154 

Facsimile of Invitation to a Springfield Cotillion Party 171 

Facsimile of Marriage License and Certificate of Abraham Lin- 
coln 191 

The Earliest Portrait of Abraham Lincoln facing 208 

Thomas Lincoln's Home in Illinois facing 222 

Lincoln's Device for Lifting Vessels over Shoals facing 226 

Facsimile of Map of Circuit which Lincoln Travelled in Practising 

Law^ 243 

Facsimile of a Lincoln Memorandum 250 

Lincoln's Office Book-case, Chairs, and Ink-stand facing 258 

The Lincoln and Douglas Meeting at Galesburg, Illinois, October 

7, 1858 facing 304 

Lincoln in 1858 . . facing 316 

Lincoln in February, i860, at the Time of the Cooper Institute 

Speech facing 326 

Lincoln in the Summer of i860 facing 340 

Chair Occupied by the Chairman of the Republican National Con- 
vention of 1 860 348 

The Wigwam facing 352 

Lincoln in i860 facing 374 

Lincoln Home, Springfield, Illinois facing 380 

Sarah Bush Lincoln facing 408 



THE LIFE 

OF 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



CHAPTER I 



THE ORIGIN OF THE LINCOLN FAMILY — THE LINCOLNS IN 
KENTUCKY— BIRTH OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Between the years 1635 and 1645 tl^e^e came to the town 
of Hingham, Massachusetts, from the west of England, eight 
men named Lincoln. Three of these, Samuel, Daniel, and 
Thomas, were brothers. Their relationship, if any, to the 
other Lincolns who came over from the same part of Eng- 
land at about the same time, is not clear. Two of these men, 
Daniel and Thomas, died without heirs; but Samuel left a 
large family, including four sons. Among the descendants 
of Samuel Lincoln's sons were many good citizens and 
prominent public officers. One was a member of the Boston 
Tea Party, and served as a captain of artillery in the War of 
the Revolution. Three served on the brig Hazard during 
the Revolution. Levi Lincoln, a great-great-grandson of 
Samuel, bom in Hingham in 1749, and graduated from Har- 
vard, was one of the minute-men at Cambridge immediately 
after the battle of Lexington, a delegate to the convention in 
Cambridge for framing a state constitution, and in 1 781 was 
elected to the continental congress, but declined to serve. 
He was a member of the house of representatives and of the 
senate of Massachusetts, and was appointed attorney-general 
of the United States by Jefferson; for a few months preced- 
ing the arrival of Madison he was secretary of state, and in 
1807 he was elected lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts. 
(1) 



2 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

In i8ii he was appointed associate justice of the United 
States Supreme Court by President Madison, an office which 
he decHned. From the close of the Revolutionary war he 
was considered the head of the Massachusetts bar. 

His eldest son, Levi Lincoln, born in 1782, had also an 
honorable career. He was a Harvard graduate, became 
governor of the state of Massachusetts, and held other im- 
portant public offices. He received the degree of LL. D. 
from both Williams College, and Harvard College. 

Another son of Levi Lincoln, Enoch Lincoln, served in 
congress from 18 18 to 1826. He became governor of Maine 
in 1827, holding the position until his death in 1829, Enoch 
Lincoln was a writer of more than ordinary ability. 

The fourth son of Samuel Lincoln was called Mordecai. 
Mordecai was a rich " blacksmith," as an iron-worker was 
called in those days, and the proprietor of numerous iron- 
works, saw-mills, and grist-mills, which with a goodly 
amount of money he distributed at his death among his child- 
ren and grandchildren. Two of his children, Mordecai and 
Abraham, did not remain in Massachusetts, but removed to 
New Jersey, and thence to Pennsylvania, where both became 
rich, and dying, left fine estates to their children. Their de- 
scendants in Pennsylvania have continued to this day to be 
well-to-do people, some of them having taken prominent 
positions in public affairs. Abraham Lincoln, of Berks 
county, who was born in 1736 and died in 1806, filled many 
public offices, being a member of the general assembly of 
Pennsylvania, of the state convention of 1787, and of the 
state constitutional convention in 1790. 

One of the sons of this second Mordecai, John, received 
from his father " three hundred acres of land, lying in the 
Jerseys." But evidently he did not care to cultivate his in- 
heritance, for about 1758 he removed to Virginia. "Vir- 
ginia John," as this member of the family was called, had 



ORIGIN OF THE LINCOLN FAMILY 3 

five sons one of whom, Jacob, entered the Revolutionary 
army and served as a heutenant at Yorktown. The third 
son was named Abraham and to him his father conveyed, 
in 1773, a tract of 210 acres of land in what is now Rocking- 
ham county, Virginia. But though Abraham Lincoln pros- 
pered and added to these acres he was not satisfied to remain 
many years in Virginia. It was not strange. The farm on 
which he lived lay close to the track of one of the earliest of 
those wonderful western migrations which from time to 
time have taken place in this country. Soon after John 
Lincoln came into Virginia vague rumors began to be cir- 
culated there of a rich western land called Kentucky. These 
rumors rapidly developed into facts, as journeys were made 
into the new land by John Finley, Daniel Boone and other 
adventure-loving men, and settlers began to move thither 
from Pennsylvania. Virginia and North Carolina. There 
were but two roads by which Kentucky could be reached 
then, the national highway from Philadelphia to Pittsburg 
and thence by the Ohio, and the highway which ran from 
Philadelphia south-westward through the Virginia valley to 
Cumberland Gap and thence by a trail called the Wilderness 
Road, northwest to the Ohio at Louisville. The latter road 
was considered less dangerous and more practical than the 
former and by it the greater part of the emigrants journeyed. 
Now this road lay through Rockingham county. Abraham 
Lincoln was thus directly under the influence of a moving 
procession of restless seekers after new lands and unknown 
goods. The spell came upon him and, selling two hundred 
and forty acres of land in Rockingham County for five thou- 
sand pounds of the current money of Virginia — a sum worth 
at that time not more than one hundred and twenty-five 
pounds sterling — he joined a party of travelers to the Wil- 
derness. Returning a few months later he moved his whole 
family, consisting of a wife and five children, into Kentucky, 



4 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Abraham Lincoln was ambitious to become a landed pro- 
prietor in the new country, and he entered a generous amount 
of land — four hundred acres on Long run, in Jefferson 
county ; eight hundred acres on Green river, near the Green 
river lick ; five hundred acres in Campbell county. He settled 
near the first tract, where he undertook to clear a farm. It 
was a dangerous task, for the Indians were still troublesome, 
and the settlers, for protection, were forced to live in or near 
forts or stations. In 1784, when John Filson published his 
" History of Kentucky," though there was a population of 
thirty thousand in the territory, there were but eighteen 
houses outside of the stations. Of these stations, or stock- 
ades, there were but fifty-two. According to the tradition 
in the Lincoln family, Abraham Lincoln lived at Hughes Sta- 
tion on Floyd creek in Jefferson county. 

All went well with him and his family until 1788. Then, 
one day, while he and his three sons were at work in their 
clearing, an unexpected Indian shot killed the father. His 
death was a terrible blow to the family. The large tracts of 
land which he had entered were still uncleared, and his per- 
sonal property was necessarily small. The difficulty of reach- 
ing the country at that date, as well as its wild condition 
made it impracticable for even a wealthy pioneer to own 
more stock or household furniture than was absolutely es- 
sential. Abraham Lincoln was probably as well provided 
with personal property as most of his neighbors. The in- 
ventory of his estate, now owned by R. T. Durrett, LL. D., 
of Louisville, Kentucky, was returned by the appraisers on 
March 10, 1789. It gives a clearer idea of the condition in 
which he left his wife and children, than any description 

could do: 

i. s. d 

1 Sorrel horse . . „.,... ............. 8 

I Black horse ...... o ........ . 9 lO 

I Red cow and calf. ... , 4 10 



ORIGIN OF THE LINCOLN FAMILY 5 

£ s. d. 

I Brindle cow and calf 4 lO 

I Red cow and calf 5 

I Brindle bull yearling- I 

I Brindle heifer yearling I 

Bar spear-plough and tackling 2 5 

3 Weeding hoes 7 6 

Flax wheel 6 

Pair smoothing irons 15 

1 Dozen pewter plates I 10 

2 Pewter dishes 17 6 

Dutch oven and cule, weighing 15 lbs... 15 

Small iron kettle and cule, weighing 12 lbs. 12 

Tool adds lO 

Hand saw 5 

One-inch auger 6 

Three-quarter auger 4 6 

Half inch auger 3 

Drawing-knife.. 3 

Currying-knife lO 

Currier's knife and barking-iron 6 

Old smooth-bar gun lo 

Rifle gun , 55 

Rifle gun 3 10 

2 Pott trammels 14 

1 Feather bed and furniture 5 10 

Ditto 8 5 

I Bed and turkey feathers and furniture... i 10 

Steeking-iron I 6 

Candle-stick..... I 6 

I Axe 9 

/68 i6s 6d 

Soon after the death of Abraham Lincoln, his widow 
moved from Jefferson county to Washington county. Here 
the eldest son, Mordecai, who inherited nearly all of the large 
estate, became a well-to-do and popular citizen. The deed- 
book of Washington count)' contains a number of records of 
lands bought and sold by him. At one time he was sheriff 
of his county and according to a tradition of his descend- 
ants a member of the Kentucky legislature. His name is not 



6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

to be found however in the fullest collection of journals ot 
the Kentucky legislature which exists, that of Dr. R. T. 
Durett of Louisville, Kentucky. Morclecai Lincoln is re- 
membered especially for his sporting tastes, his bitter hatred 
of the Indians and his ability as a story-teller. He remained 
in Kentucky until late in life, when he removed to Hancock 
County, Illinois. 

Of Josiah, the second son, we know very little more than 
that the records show that he owned and sold land. He left 
Kentucky when a young man, to settle on the Blue river, in 
Harrison County, Indiana, and there he died. The two 
daughters married into well-known Kentucky families ; the 
elder, Mary, marrying Ralph Crume; the younger, Nancy, 
William Brumfield. 

The death of Abraham Lincoln was saddest for the young- 
est of the children, a lad of ten years at the time, named 
Thomas, for it turned him adrift to become a " wandering 
laboring-boy " before he had learned even to read. Thomas 
seems not to have inherited any of the father's estate, and 
from the first to have been obliged to shift for himself. For 
several years he supported himself by rough farm work of 
all kinds, learning, in the meantime, the trade of carpenter 
and cabinet-maker. According to one of his acquaintances, 
" Tom had the best set of tools in what v.'-as then and now 
Washington County," and was '"' a good carpenter for those 
days, when a cabin was built mainly with the axe, and not a 
nail or bolt-hinge in it ; only leathers and pins to the door, 
and no glass." Although a skilled craftsman for his day, 
he never became a thrifty or ambitious man. " He would 
work energetically enough when a job was brought to him, 
but he would never seek a job." But if Thomas Lincoln 
plied his trade spasmodically, he shared the pioneer's love for 
land, for when but twenty-five years old, and still without 
the responsibility of a family, he bought a farm in Ilardin 



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ORIGIN OF THE LINCOLN FAMILY 7 

County, Kentucky. This fact is of importance, proving as it 
does that Thomas Lincoln was not the altogether shiftless 
man he has been pictured. Certainly he must have been 
above the grade of the ordinary country boy, to have had the 
energy and ambition to learn a trade and secure a farm 
through his own efforts by the time he was twenty- five. He 
was illiterate, never doing more " in the way of writing 
than to bunglingly write his own name." Nevertheless, he 
had the reputation in the country of being good-natured and 
obliging, and possessing what his neighbors called " good 
strong horse-sense." Although he was a " very quiet sort 
of a man," he was known to be determined in his opinions, 
and quite competent to defend his rights by force if they were 
too flagrantly violated. He was a moral man, and, in the 
crude way of the pioneer, religious. 

In 1806 Thomas Lincoln married. The early history of 
his wife, Nancy Hanks, has been until recently obscured by 
contradictory traditions. The compilation of the genealogy 
of the Hanks family in America, which has been completed 
by Mrs. Caroline Hanks Hitchcock, though not yet printed, 
has fortunately cleared up the mystery of her birth. Ac- 
cording to the records which Mrs. Hitchcock has gathered 
and a brief summary of which she has published in a valuable 
little volume called *' Nancy Hanks," the family to which 
Thomas Lincoln's wife belonged first came to this country in 
1699 and settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts, ^-^ 

This early settler, Benjamin Hanks, had eleven children, 
one of whom, William, went to Virginia, settling near the 
mouth of the Rappahannock river. William Hanks had five 
sons, four of whom, about the middle of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, moved to Amelia County, Virginia, where, according 
to old deeds unearthed by Mrs. Hitchcock, they owned nearly 
a thousand acres of land. Joseph Hanks, the 3'"oungest of 
these sons, married Nancy Shiplev. Xhis Miss Shipley was 



8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

a daughter of Robert and Rachel Shipley of Lurenburg 
County, Virginia, and a sister of Mary Shipley, who married 
Abraham Lincoln of Rockingham County, and who was the 
mother of Thomas Lincoln. 

About 1789 Joseph Hanks and a large number of his rela- 
tives in Amelia County moved into Kentucky, where he set- 
tled near what is now Elizabethtown. He remained here 
until his death in 1793. Joseph Hanks's will may still be seen 
in the county records of Bardstown. He leaves to each of his 
sons a horse, to each of his daughters a " heifer yearling," 
though these bequests, as well as the " whole estate " of one 
hundred and fifty acres of land was to be the property of his 
wife during her life, when it was to be divided equally 
among all the children. 

Soon after Joseph Hanks's death his wife died and the 
family was scattered. The youngest of the eight children left 
fatherless and motherless by the death of Joseph Hanks and 
his wife was a little girl called Nancy. She was but nine 
years old at the time and a home was found for her with her 
aunt, Lucy Shipley, wife of Richard Berry, who had a farm 
in Washington county, near Springfield. Nancy had a large 
number of relatives near there, all of whom had come from 
Virginia with her father. The little girl grew up into a 
sweet-tempered and beautiful woman whom tradition paints 
not only as the center of all the country merry-making but as 
a famous spinner and housewife. 

It was probably at the house of Richard Berry that 
Thomas Lincoln met Nancy Hanks, for he doubtless spent 
more or less timfe nearby with his oldest brother, Mordecai 
Lincoln, who was a resident of Washington County and a 
friend and neighbor of the Berry's. He may have seen her, 
too, at the home of her brother, Joseph Hanks, in Elizabeth- 
town. This Joseph Hanks was a carpenter and had in- 
herited the old hom.e of the family and it was with him that 




i-.0M|„,,. 



MAP OF NEW SALEM, ILLINOIS. 



Drawn for this biography liy J. McCaiin Davis, aided by surviviiiij: inhabitants 
of New Salem. Dr. John Allen, who lived across the road from Berry & Lincoln's 
store, attended Ann Rutledgfi in her last illness. None of the buildings are in 
existence to-day. 



lO LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Thomas Lincoln learned his trade. At all events, the two 
cousins became engaged and on June lo, 1806, their mar- 
riage bond was issued according to the law of the time. 
Two days later according to the marriage returns of the Rev- 
erend Jesse Head, they were married, — a fact duly attested 
also by the marriage certificate made out by the officiating 
minister. 

The marriage took place at the home of Richard Berry, 
near Beechland in Washington County, Kentucky. It was 
celebrated in the boisterous style of one hundred years ago, 
and was followed by an infare, given by the bride's guardian. 
To this celebration came all the neighbors, and, according 
to an entertaining Kentucky centenarian. Dr. Christopher 
Columbus Graham, even those who happened in the neigh- 
borhood were made welcome. He tells how he heard of the 
wedding while " out hunting for roots," and went " just to 
get a good supper. I saw Nancy Hanks Lincoln at. her wed- 
ding," continues Mr. Graham, " afresh looking girl, I should 
say over twenty. I was at the infare, too, given by John H. 
Parrott, her guardian — and only girls with money had 
guardians appointed by the court. We had bearmeat ; . . . 
venison ; wild turkey and ducks ; eggs, wild and tame, so 
common that you could buy them at two bits a bushel ; maple 
sugar, swung on a string, to bite off for coffee or whiskey; 
syrup in big gourds ; peach-and-honey ; a sheep that the two 
families barbecued whole over coals of wood burned in a 
pit, and covered with green boughs to keep the juice in; and 
a race for the whiskey bottle." 

After his marriage Thomas Lincoln settled in Elizabeth- 
town. His home was a log cabin, but at that date few peo- 
ple in the state had anything else. Kentucky had been in the 
union only fourteen years. When admitted, the few brick 
structures within its boundaries were easily counted, and 
there were only log school-houses and churches. Fourteen 



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RETURN OF MARRIAGE OP THOMAS LINCOLN AND NANCY HANKS. 

From a tracing of the original, made by Henry Wliitney Clevelantl. This certificate was discovered about 
1885 by W. F. Hodker, Esq., Clerk of Washington County, Kentucky. 



ORIGIN OF THE LINCOLN FAMILY 1$ 

years had brought great improvements, but the majority of 
the population still lived in log cabins, so that the home of 
Thomas Lincoln was as good as most of his neighbors„ Lit- 
tle is known of his position in Elizabethtown, though we have 
proof that he had credit in the community, far the descend- 
ants of two of the early store-keepers still remember seeing 
on their grandfathers' account books sundry items charged 
to T. Lincoln, Tools and groceries were the chief purchase? 
he made, though on one of the ledgers a pair of *' silk sus- 
penders," worth one dollar and fifty cents, was entered. He 
not only enjoyed a certain credit with the people of Eliza- 
bethtown ; he was sufficiently respected by the public authori- 
ties to be appointed in 1816 a road surveyor, or. as tlie office 



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FACSIMILE OF THE APPOINTMENT OF THOMAS LINCOLN AS KOAD SUUVEYOB- 

is known in some localities, supervisor. It was not, to be 
sure, a position of great importance, but it proved that he was 
considered tit to oversee a l)ody of men at a task of consider- 
able value to the comiuunity. Lideed, all of the documents 
mentioning Thomas Lincoln which have been discovered 
show him to have had a much better position m Hardin 
county than he has been credited with. 

It was at Elizabethtown that the first child ()f the Lincolns, ; 
a daughter, was born. Soon after this event Thom.as Lin- 
coln decided to combine farming with his trade, and moved 



14 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

to the farm he had bought in 1803 on the Big South fork of 
Nohn creek, in Hardin County, now La Rue County, three 
miles from Hodgensville, and about fourteen miles from 
EHzabethtown. Here he was living when, on February 12, 
1809, his second child, a boy, was born. The little new- 
comer was called Abraham, after his grandfather — a name 
which had persisted through many preceding generations in 
both the Lincoln and Hanks families. 

The home into which the child came was the ordinary one 
of the poorer western pioneer — a one-roomed cabin with a 
huge outside chimney, a single window, and a rude door. 
The description of its squalor and wretchedness, which are 
so familiar, have been overdrawn. Dr. Graham, than whom 
there is no better authority on the life of that day, and who 
knew Thomas Lincoln well, declares energetically that "It is 
all stuff about Tom Lincoln keeping his wife in an open shed 
in a winter. The Lincolns had a cow and calf, milk and 
butter, a good feather bed — for I have slept on it. They had 
home-woven 'kiverlids,' big and little pots, a loom and wheel 
Tom Lincoln was a man and took care of his wife." 

The Lincoln home was undoubtedly rude, and in many 
ways uncomfortable, but it sheltered a happy family, and its 
poverty affected the new child but little. He grew to be 
robust and active and soon learned how endless are the de- 
lights and interests the country offers to a child. He had 
several companions. There was his sister Nancy, or Sarah 
— both names are given her — two years his senior ; there was 
a cousin of his mother's, ten years older, Dennis Friend 
(commonly called Dennis Hanks), an active and ingenious 
leader in sports and mischief ; and there were the neighbors' 
boys. One of the latter, Austin Gollaher, lived to be over 
ninety years of age and to his death related with pride 
how he played with young Lincoln in the shavings of his 



ORIGIN OF THE LINCOLN FAMILY 15 

father's carpenter shop, hunted coons and ran the woods with 
him, and once even saved his hfe. 

" Yes," Mr. Gollaher was accustomed to say, " the story 
that I once saved Abraham Lincohi's life is true. He and I 
had been going to school together for a year or more, and 
had become greatly attached to each other. Then school dis- 
banded on account of there being so few scholars, and we did 
not see each other much for a long while. One Sunday my 
mother visited the Lincolns, and I was taken along. Abe 
and I played around all day. Finally, we concluded to cross 
the creek to hunt for some partridges young Lincoln had seen 
the day before. The creek was swollen by a recent rain, and, 
in crossing on the narrow footlog, Abe fell in. Neither of 
us could swim. I got a long pole and held it out to Abe, who 
grabbed it. Then I pulled him ashore. He was almost 
dead, and I was badly scared. I rolled and pounded him in 
good earnest. Then I got him by the arms and shook him, 
the water meanwhile pouring out of his mouth. By this 
means I succeeded in bringing him to, and he was soon all 
right. 

'* Then a new^ difficulty confronted us. If our mothers 
discovered our wet clothes they would whip us. This we 
dreaded from experience, and determined to avoid. It was 
June, the sun was very warm, and we soon dried our clothing 
by spreading it on the- rocks about us. We promised never 
to tell the story, and I never did until after Lincoln's tragic 
end." 

When the little boy was about four years old the first real 
excitement of his life occurred. His father moved from the 
farm on Nolin creek to another some fifteen miles northeast 
on Knob creek, and here the child began to go to school. At 
that day the schools in the west were usually accidental, de- 
pending upon the coming of some poor and ambitious young 
man who was willing to teach a few terms while he looked 
for an opening to something better. The terms were ir- 
regular, their length being decided by the time the settlers 



l6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

felt able to board the master and pay his small salary. The 
chief qualifications for a school-master seem to have been 
enough strength to keep the " big boys " in order, though 
one high authority affirms that pluck went " for a heap sight 
more'n sinnoo with boys." 

Many of the itinerant masters were Catholics, strolling 
Irishmen from the colony in Tennessee, or French priests 
from Kaskaskia. Lincoln's first teacher, Zachariah Riney, 
was a Catholic. Of his second teacher, Caleb Hazel, we know 
even less than of Riney. Mr. Gollaher says that Abraham 
Lincoln, in those da3^s when he was his schoolmate, was " an 
unusually bright boy at school, and made splendid progress 
in his studies. Indeed, he learned faster than any of his 
schoolmates. Though so young, he studied very hard. He 
would get spicewood bushes, hack them up on a log, and 
burn them two or three together, for the purpose of giving 
light by which he might pursue his studies." 

Probably the boy's mother had something to do with the 
spice-wood illuminations. Tradition has it that Mrs. Lincoln 
took great pains to teach her children what she knew, and 
that at her knee they heard all the Bible lore, fairy tales, and 
country legends that she had been able to gather in her poor 
life. 

Besides the "A B C schools," as Lincoln called them, the 
only other medium of education in the country districts of 
Kentucky in those days was "preaching." Itinerants like the 
school-masters, the preachers, of whatever denomination, 
were generally uncouth and illiterate ; the code of morals they 
taught was mainly a healthy one, and they, no doubt, did 
much to keep the consciences of the pioneers awake. It is diffi- 
cult to believe that they ever did much for the moral training 
of young Lincoln, though he certainly got his first notion of 
public speaking from them ; and for years in his boyhood one 
of his chief delights was to gather his playmates about him. 




VIEW OF ROCK SPRING FARM, WHERE PRESIDENT LINCOLN WAS BORN 

From a photoRrapli taken in September. 1S!»5, for this hincraiihy. The house in whicr 
Lincoln was born is seen to the right, in the b;ickground 

Sirr yiaae. 14 




KULK MKiNG, ON THE FARM WHERE LINCOLN WAS BORN 

From a photograph taken in September, 1895, for this biography 

See pnar 14 



CHAPTER II 

THE LINCOLNS LEAVE KENTUCKY FOR SOUTHERN INDIANA 
— CONDITIONS OF LIFE IN THEIR NEW HOME 

In i8i6 a great event happened to the Httle boy. His 
father emigrated from Knob creek to Indiana. " This re- 
moval v^^as partly on account of slavery, but chiefly on ac- 
count of the difficulty in land titles in Kentucky," says his 
son. It was due, as well, no doubt, to the fascination which an 
unknown country has always for the adventurous, and to that 
restless pioneer spirit which drives even men of sober judg- 
ment continually towards the frontier, in search of a place 
where the conflict with nature is less severe — some spot 
farther on, to which a friend or a neighbor has preceded, and 
from which he sends back glowing reports. It may be that 
.rhomas Lincoln was tempted into Indiana by the reports of 
his brother Joseph, who had settled on the Big Blue river in 
that State. At all events, in the fall of 1816 he started with 
wife and children and household stores to journey by horse- 
back and by wagon from Knob creek to a farm selected on a 
previous trip he had made. This farm, located near Little 
Pigeon creek, about fifteen miles north of the Ohio river, and 
a mile and a half east of Gentryville, Spencer County, was in 
a forest so dense that the road for the travellers had to be 
hewed out as they went. 

To a bey of seven years, free from all responsibility, and 
too vigorous to feel its hardships, such a journey must have 
been a long delight and wonder. Life suddenly ceased its 
routine, and every day brought forth new scenes and adven- 
tures. Little Abraham saw forests greater than he had ever 

18 



LEAVE KENTUCKY FOR INDIANA I9 

dreamed of, peopled by strange birds and beasts, and he 
crossed a river so wide that it must have seemed to him hke 
tlie sea. To Thomas and Nancy Lincohi the journey was 
probably a hard and sad one ; but to the children beside them 
it was a wonderful journey into the unknown. 

On arriving at the new farm an axe was put into the boy's 
hands, and he was set to work to aid in clearing a field for 
:orn, and to help build the " half-face camp " which for a 
year was the home of the Lincolns. There were few more 
;)rimitive homes in the wilderness of Indiana in 18 16 than 
this of young Lincoln, and there were few families, even in 
that day, who were forced to practice more make-shifts to 
get a living. The cabin which took the place of the " half- 
face camp " had but one room, with a loft above. For a 
long time there was no window, door, or floor ; not even the 
traditional deer-skin hung before the exit ; there was no 
oiled paper over the opening for light ; there was no pun- 
cheon covering on the ground. 

The furniture was of their own manufacture. The table 
and chairs were of the rudest sort — rough slabs of wood in 
which holes were bored and legs fitted in. Their bedstead, or, 
rather bed-frame, was made of poles held up by two outer 
posts, and the ends made firm by inserting the poles in auger- 
holes that had been bored in a log which was a part of the 
wall of the cabin ; skins were its chief covering. Little Abra- 
ham's bed was even more primitive. He slept on a heap of 
dry leaves in the corner of the loft, to which I;? mounted by 
means of pegs driven into the wall. 

Their food, if coarse, was usually abundant ; the chief diffi- 
culty in supplying the larder was to secure any variety. Of 
game there was plenty — deer, bear, pheasants, wild turkeys, 
ducks, birds of all kinds. There were fish in the streams, and 
wild fruits of many kinds in the woods in the summer, and 
these were dried for winter use ; but the difficulty of raising 



LEAVE KENTUCKY FOR INDIANA 21 

his cap a coon-skin ; it was only the material for his blouse or 
shirt that was woven at home. If this costume had some ob- 
vious disadvantages, it was not to be despised. So good an 
authority as Governor Reynolds says of one of its articles — ■ 
the linsey-woolsey shirt — " It was an excellent garment. I 
have never felt so happy and healthy since I put it off." 

These "pretty pinching times," as Abraham Lincoln once 
described the early days in Indiana, lasted until 1819. The 
year before Nancy Lincoln had died, and for many months 
no more forlorn place could be conceived than this pioneer 
home bereft of its guiding spirit; but finally Thomas Lincoln 
went back to Kentucky and returned with a new wife — Sally 
Bush Johnston, a widow with three children, John, Sarah, 
and Matilda. The new mother came well provided with 
household furniture, bringing many things unfamiliar to lit- 
tle Abraham — "one fine bureau, one table, one set of chairs, 
one large clothes-chest, cooking utensils, knives, forks, bed- 
ding, jnd other articles." She w^as a woman of energy, 
thrift, and gentleness, and at once made the cabin home-like 
and taught the children habits of cleanliness and comfort. 

Abraham was ten years old when his new mother came 
from Kentucky, and he was already an important member 
of the family. He was remarkably strong for his years, and 
the work he could do in a day was a decided advantage to 
Thomas Lincoln. The axe which had been put into his hand 
to help in making the first clearing, he had never been al- 
lowed to drop; indeed, as he says himself, " from that till 
within his twenty-third year he was almost constantly hand- 
ling that most useful instrument." Besides, he drove the 
team, cut the elm and linn brush with which the stock was 
often fed, learned to handle the old shovel-plough, to wield 
the sickle, to thresh the wheat with a flail, to fan and clean it 
with a sheet, to go to mill and turn the hard-earned grist 
into flour. In short, he learned all the trades tlie settler's 



22 I^IFE OF LINCOLN 

boy must know, and so well that when his father did not 
need him he could hire him to the neighbors. Thomas 
Lincoln also taught him the rudiments of carpentry and 
cabinet-making, and kept him busy nuich of the time as his 
assistant in his trade. There are houses still standing, in 
and near Gentryville, on which it is said he worked. 

As he grew older he became one of the strongest and most 
popular " hands " in the vicinity, and much of his time was 
spent as a " hired boy " on some neighbor's farm. For 
twenty-five cents a day — i)aid to his father — he was hostler, 
ploughman, wood-chopi^er, and car])enter, besides helping 
the women with the " chores." For them he was ready to 
carry w ater, make the fire, even tend the baby. No wonder 
that a laborer who never refused to do anything asked of 
him, who could " strike with a maul heavier blows " and 
" sink an axe deeper into the wood " than anybody else in 
the community, and who at the same time was general help 
for the women, never lacked a job in Gentryville. 

Of all the tasks his rude life brought him, none seems to 
have suited him better than going to the mill. It was, per- 
haps, as much the leisure enforced by this trip as anything 
else that attracted him. The machinery was primitive, and 
each man waited his turn, which sometimes was long in com- 
ing. A story is told by one of the pioneers of Illinois of go- 
ing many miles with a grist, and waiting so long for his turn, 
that when it came, he and his horse had eaten all the corn 
and lie had none t(3 grind. This waiting witii other men 
and boys on like errands gave an (jjjportunity for talk, 
story-telling, and games, which were Lincoln's delight. 

If Abraham Lincoln's life was rough and hard it was 
not without amusements. At home the rude household was 
overflowing with life. Inhere were Abraham and his sister, 
a stepbrother and two stepsisters, and a cousin of Nancy 



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By permission, from Herndon anrtWeik s ' I.itVof A hrabam Lincoln." 
Copyrieht 1892. bv D. Airoletou « Uo. 



LEAVE KENTUCKY FOR INDIANA 25 

Hanks Lincoln, Dennis (Friend) Hanks, whom misfortune 
had made an inmate of the Lincohi home — quite enough 
to plan sports and mischief and keep time from growing dull. 
Thomas Lincoln and Dennis Hanks were both famous story- 
tellers, and the Lincolns spent many a cozy evening about 
their cabin fire, repeating the stories they knew. 

Of course the boys hunted. Not that Abraham ever became 
a true sportsman ; indeed, he seems to have lacked the genu- 
ine sporting instinct. In a curious autobiography, written 
entirely in the third person, which Lincoln prepared at the 
request of a friend in i860, he says of his exploits as a 
hunter: "A few days before the completion of his eighth 
year, in the absence of his father, a flock of wild turkeys ap- 
proached the new log cabin; and Abraham with a ritle gun, 
standing inside, shot througii a crack and killed one of them. 
He has never since pulled the trigger on any larger game." 
This exploit is confirmed by Dennis Hanks, who says : "No 
doubt about A. Lincoln's killing the turkey. He done it with 
his father's rifle, made by William Lutes of Bullitt county, 
Kentucky. I have killed a hundred deer with her myself; tur- 
keys too numerous to mention." 

But there were many other country sports which he en- 
joyed to the full. He went swimming in the evenings ; fished 
with the other boys in Pigeon creek, wrestled, jumped, and 
ran races at the noon rests. He was present at every country 
horse-race and fox-chase. The sports he preferred were 
those which brought men together; the spelling-school, the 
husking-bee; the "raising;" and of all these he was the life by 
his wit, his stories, his good nature, his doggerel verses, his 
practical jokes, and by a rough kind of politeness — for even 
in Indiana in those times there was a notion of politeness, 
and one of Lincoln's school-masters had given "lessons in 
manners." Lincoln seems to have profited in a degree by 
them: for Mrs. Crawford, at whose home he worked for 



26 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

some time, declares that he always "lifted his hat and bowed" 
when he made his appearance. 

There was, of course, a rough gallantry among the young 
people; and Lincoln's old comrades and friends in Indiana 
have left many tales of how he "went to see the girls," of how 
he brought in the biggest back-log and made the brightest 
fire; of how the young people, sitting around it, watch- 
ing the way the sparks flew, told their fortunes. He helped 
pare apples, shell corn and crack nuts. He took the girls to 
meeting and to spelling-school, though he was not often al-* 
lowed to take part in the spelling-match, for the one who 
"chose first" always chose "Abe Lincoln," and that was 
equivalent to winning, as the others knew that "he would 
stand up the longest." 

The nearest approach to sentiment at this time, of which 
we know, is recorded in a story Lincoln once told to an ao» 
quaintance in Springfield. It was a rainy day, and he was sit- 
ting with his feet on the window-sill, his eyes on the street, 
watching the rain. Suddenly he looked up and said : 

"Did you ever write out a story in your mind ? I did wher> 
I was a little codger. One day a wagon with a lady and two 
girls and a man broke down near us, and while they were 
fixing up, they cooked in our kitchen. The woman had books 
and read us stories, and they were the first I had ever heard. 
I took a great fancy to one of the girls ; and when they were 
gone I thought of her a great deal, and one day when I was 
sitting out in the sun by the house I wrote out a story in my 
mind. I thought I took my father's horse and followed the 
wagon, and finally I found it, and they were surprised to see 
me. I talked with the girl and persuaded her to elope with 
me; and that night I put her on my horse,- and we started off 
across the prairie. After several hours we came to a camp; 
and when we rode up we found it was the one we had left a 
few hours before, and we went in. The next night we tried 
again, and the same thing happened — the horse came back to 
the same place ; and then we concluded that we ought not to 



LEAVE KENTUCKY FOR INDIANA 2^ 

elope. I stayed until I had persuaded her father to give her 
to rne. I always meant to write that story out and publish it, 
and I began once ; but I concluded that it was not much of a 
story. But I think that was the beginning of love with me." 

His life had its tragedies as well as its touch of romance — 
tragedies so real and profound that they gave dignity to all 
the crudeness and poverty which surrounded him, and quick- 
ened and intensified the melancholy temperament which he 
inherited from his mother. Away back in 1816, when 
Thomas Lincoln had started to find a farm in Indiana, bid- 
ding his wife be ready to go into the wilderness on his re- 
turn, Nancy Lincoln had taken her boy and girl to a tiny 
grave, that of her youngest child ; and the three had there 
said good-by to a little one whom the children had scarcely 
known, but for whom the mother's grief was so keen that the 
boy never forgot the scene. 

Two years later he saw his father make a green pine box 
and put his dead mother into it, and he saw her buried not 
far from their cabin, almost without prayer. Young as he 
was, it was his efforts, it is said, which brought a parson 
from Kentucky, three months later, to preach the sermon and 
conduct the service which seemed to the child a necessary 
honor to the dead. As sad as the death of his mother was 
that of his only sister, Sarah. Married to Aaron Grigsby in 
1826, she had died a year and a half later in child-birth, a 
death which to her brother must have seemed a horror and a 
mystery. 

Apart from these family sorrows there was all the crime 
and misery of the community — all of which came to his ears 
and awakened his nature. He even saw in those days one of 
his companions go suddenly mad. The young man never re- 
covered his reason but sank into idiocy. All night he would 
croon plaintive songs, and Lincoln himself tells how, fasci 
nated by this mysterious malady, he used to rise before day 



28 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

light to cross the fields to listen to this funeral dirge of the 
reason. In spite of the poverty and rudeness of his life the 
depths of his nature were unclouded. He could feel intensely, 
and his imagination was quick to respond to the touch of 
mvsterv 




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CHAPTER ni 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S EARLY OPPORTUNITIES — -THE BOOKS 

HE READ TRIPS TO NEW ORLEANS IMPRESSION HE 

MADE ON HIS FRIENDS 

With all his hard living- and hard work, Lincoln was get- 
tingf, in this period, a desultory kind of education. Not that 
he received much schoolinsf. He went to school " bv littles," 
he says; "in all it did not amount to more than a year." And, 
if we accept his own description of the teachers, it was. per- 
haps, just as well that it was only " by littles." No qualifica- 
tion was required of a teacher beyond " readin', writin,' and 
cipherin' to the rule of three." If a straggler supposed to 
know Latin happened to sojourn in the neighborhood, he was 
looked upon as a"wizard." But more or less of a school-room 
is a matter of small importance if a boy has learned to read, 
and to think of what he reads. And that, this boy had learned. 
His stock of books was small, but he knew them thoroughly, 
and they were good books to know; the Bible, "^sop's Fa- 
bles," "Robinson Crusoe," Bunyan's "Pilgrim Progress," a 
"History of the United States," Weems's "Life of Washing- 
ton," and the "Statutes of Indiana."* These are the chief 

*The first authorized sketch of Lincoln's life was written by the late 
John L. Scripps of the Chicago " Tribune," who went to Springfield at 
Mr. Lincoln's request, and by him was furnished the data for a campaign 
biography. In a letter written to Mr. Hemdon after the death of Lin- 
coln, wliich Herndon turntd over to nie, Scripps relates that in writing 
his book he stated that Lincoln as a youth read Plutarch's " Lives." 
This he did simply because, as a rule, every boy in the West in the early 
days did read Plutarch. When the advance sheets of the book reached 
Mr. Lincoln, he sent for the author and said, gravely: " That paragraph 
wherein you state that I read Plutarch's ' Lives ' was not true when you 
wrote it, for up to that moment in my life I had never seen that early- 
contribution to human history; but I want your .book, even if it is 

29 



3© LIFE OF LINCOLN 

ones we know about. Some of these books he borrowed from 
the neighbors ; a practice which resulted in at least one casu- 
alty, for Weems's "Life of Washington" he allowed to get 
wet, and to make good the loss he had to pull fodder three 
days. No matter. The book became his then, and he could 
read it as he would. Fortunately he took this curious work in 
profound seriousness, which a wide-awake boy would hardly 
be expected to do to-day. Washington became an exalted 
figure in his imagination; and he always contended later, 
when the question of the real character of the first President 
was brought up, tnat it was wiser to regard him as a god- 
like being, heroic in nature and deeds, as Weems does, than 
to contend that he was only a man who, if wise and good, 
still made mistakes and was guilty of follies, like other men. 
Besides these books he borrowed many others. He once 
told a friend that he "read through every book he had ever 
heard of in that country, for a circuit of fifty miles." From 
everything he read he made long extracts, with his turkey- 
buzzard pen and brier-root ink. When he had no paper he 
would write on a board, and thus preserve his selections un- 
til he secured a copybook. The wooden fire-shovel was his 
usual slate, and on its back he ciphered with a charred stick 
shaving it off when it had become too grimy for use. The 
logs and boards in his vicinity he covered with his figures 
and quotations. By night he read and worked as long as 
there was light, and he kept a book in the crack of the logs in 
his loft, to have it at hand at peep of day. When acting as 
ferryman on the Ohio, in his nineteenth year, anxious, no 
doubt, to get through the books of the house where he 
boarded, before he left the place, he read every night until 
midnight. 



nothing more than a campaign sketch, to be faithful to the facts; and 
in order that tiie statement might be literally true, I secured the book a 
few weeks ago, and have sent for you to tell you that I have just read 
it through." — Jesse W. Weik. 




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FRAGMKNT FROM A LEAF IN LINCOLN 3 KX KRriSK-BOOK. 



32 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Every lull in his daily labor he used for reading, rarely 
going to his work without a book. Wlien ploughing or culti- 
vating the rough fields of Spencer county, he found fre- 
quently a half hour for reading, for at the end of every long 
row the horse w^as allowed to rest, and Lincoln had his book 
out and was perched on stump or fence, almost as soon as the 
plough had come to a standstill. One of the few people still 
left in Gentryville who remembers Lincoln, Captain John 
Lamar, tells to this day of riding to mill with his father, and 
seeing, as they drove along, a boy sitting on the top rail of an 
old-fashioned stake-and-rider worm fence, reading so in- 
tently that he did not notice their approach. His father turn- 
ing to him, said : "John, look at that boy yonder, and mark 
my words, he will make a smart man out of himself. I may 
not see it, but you'll see if my words don't come true." "That 
boy was Abraham Lincoln," adds Mr, Lamar impressively. 

In his habits of reading and study the boy had little en- 
couragement from his father, but his stepmother did all she 
could for him. Indeed, between the two there soon grew up a 
relation of touching gentleness and confidence. In one of the 
interviews a biographer of Mr. Lincoln sought with her be- 
fore her death, Mrs. Lincoln said : 

"I induced my husband to permit Abe to read and study at 
home, as well as at school. At first he was not easily recon- 
ciled to it, but finally he too seemed willing to encourage him 
to a certain extent. Abe was a dutiful son to me always, and 
we took particular care when he was reading not to disturb 
him — would let him read on and on till he quit of his own 
accord." This consideration of his stepmother won the boy's 
confidence, and he rarely copied anything that he did not take 
it to her to read, asking her opinion of it; and often, when 
she did not understand it, explaining the meaning in his plain 
and simple language. 

Among the books which fell into young Lincoln's hand 



EARLY OPPORTUNITIES J3 

when he was about eighteen years old was a copy of the 
"Revised Statutes of Indiana."* We know from Den- 
nis Hanks and from Mr. Tuniliam of Gentryville, to 
whom the book belonged, and from other associates of 
Lincoln at the time, that' he read the book intently and 
discussed its contents intelligently. It was a remarkable 
volume for a thoughtful lad whose mind had already 
been fired by the history of Washington. It opened 
with that wonderful document, the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, followmg the Declaration of Independence was the 
Constitution of the United States, the Act of Virginia passed 
in 1783 by which the "Territory North Westward of the 
river Ohio" was conveyed to the United States, and the ordi- 
nance of 1787 for governing this territory, containing that 
clause on which Lincoln in the future based many an argu- 
ment on the slavery question. This article, No. 6 of the Ordi- 
nance, reads : "There shall be neither slavery nor involun- 
tary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the 
punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly 
convicted : provided always, that any person escaping into 
the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in 
any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully 
reclaimed, and conveyed to the person claiming his or her la- 
bor or service, as aforesaid." 



*The book was owned by Mr. David Turnham of Gentryville, and was 
given by him in 1865 to Mr. Herndon, who placed it in the Lincoln 
Memorial collection of Chicago. In December, 1894, this collection was 
sold in Philadelphia, and the 'Statutes of Indiana" was bought by Mr. 
William Hoffman Winters, Librarian of the New York Law Institute, 
where it now may be seen. The book is worn, the title page is gone, 
and a few leaves from the end are missing. The title page of a duplicate 
volume reads: 'The Revised Laws of Indiana, adopted and enacted by 
the General Assembly at their eighth session. To which are prefixed the 
Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, the 
Constitution of the State of Indiana, and sundry other documents con- 
nected with the Political History of the Territory and State of Indiana 
Arranged and published by authority of the General Assembly. Cory 
•jon ; Printed by Carpenter and Dovglass, 1824." 

(3) 



34 t-IFE OF LINCOLN • 

Following this was the Constitution and the Revised Laws 
of Indiana, three hundred and seventy-five pages, of five hun- 
dred words each, of statutes. When Lincohi finished 
this book, as he had, probably, before he was eighteen, we 
have reason to believe that he understood the principles on 
which the nation was founded, how the State of Indiana 
came into being, and how it was governed. His understand- 
ing of the subject was clear and practical, and he applied it in 
his reading, thinking, and discussion. After he had read the 
Statutes of Indiana, Lincoln had free access to the library of 
an admirer. Judge John Pitcher of Rockport, Indiana, 
where he examined many books. 

Although so far away from the center of the world's activ- 
ity, he was learning something of current history. One man 
in Gentryville, Mr. Jones, the storekeeper, took a Louisville 
paper, and here Lincoln went regularly to read and discuss 
its contents. All the men and boys of the neighborhood 
gathered there, and everything wdiich the paper printed was 
subjected to their keen, shrewd common sense. It was not 
long before young Lincoln became the favorite member of 
the group, the one listened to most respectfully. Politics were 
warmly discussed by these Gentryville citizens, and it may 
be that sitting on the counter of Jones's grocery, Lincoln even 
argued on slavery. It certainly was one of the live questions 
in Indiana at that date. 

For several years after the organization of the Territory, 
and in spite of the Ordinance of 1787, a system of thinly dis- 
guised slavery had existed ; and it took a sharp struggle to 
bring the State in without some form of the institution. So 
uncertain was the result that, when decided, the word passed 
from mouth to mouth all over Hoosierdom, "She has come in 
free, she has come in free!" Even in 1820, four years after 
the admission to Statehood, the census showed one hundred 
and ninety slaves, nearly all of them in the southwest corner, 



EARLY OPPORTUNITIES 35 

where the Lincolns Hved, and it was not, in reahty, until 1821 
that the State Supreme Court put an end to the question. In 
IlHnois in 1822- 1824 there was carried on one of the most 
violent contests between the friends and opponents of slavery 
which occurred before the repeal of the Missouri Compro- 
mise. The efifort to secure slave labor was nearly successful. 
In the campaign, pamphlets pro and con literally inundated 
the State; the pulpits took it up; and "almost every stump in 
every county had its bellov\^ing, indignant orator.'* So violent 
a commotion so near at hand could hardly have failed 
to reach Gentryville. 

There had been other anti-slavery agitation going on 
within hearing for several years. In 1804 a number of Baptist 
ministers of Kentucky started a crusade against the institu- 
tion, which resulted in a hot contest in the denomination, and 
the organization of the "Baptist Licking-Locust Association 
Friends of Humanity." The Rev. Jesse Head, the minister 
who married Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, talked 
freely and boldly against slavery; and one of their old 
friends, Christopher Columbus Graham, the man who was 
present at their wedding, says : "Tom and Nancy Lincoln and 
Sally Bush were just steeped full of Jesse Head's notions 
about the wrong of slavery and the rights of man as ex- 
plained by Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine." In 1806 
Charles Osborne began to preach ''immediate emancipation" 
in Tennessee. Ten years later he started a paper in Ohio, 
devoted to the same idea, and in 18 19 he transferred his cru- 
sade to Indiana. In 1821 Benjamin Lundy started, in Ten- 
nessee, the famous "Genius," devoted to the same doctrine; 
and in 1822, at Shelby ville, only about one hundred miles 
from Gentryville, was started a paper similar in its views, 
the "Abolition Intelligencer." 

At that time there were in Kentucky five or six abolition 
societies, and in Illinois was an organization called the 



36 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

"Friends of Humanity." Probably young Lincoln heard but 
vaguely of these movements; but of some of them he must 
have heard, and he must have connected them with the 
"Speech of Mr. Pitt on the Slave Trade;" with Merry's 
eleg}-, "The Slaves," and with the discussion given in his 
"Kentucky Preceptor," "Which has the Most to Complain 
of, the Indian or the Negro?" all of which tradition declares 
he was fond of repeating. It is not impossible that, as Freder- 
ick Douglas first realized his own condition in reading a 
school-speaker, the "Columbian Orator," so Abraham Lin- 
coln first felt the wrong of slavery in reading his " Ken- 
tucky " or "American Preceptor." 

Lincoln was not only winning in these days in the Jones 
grocery store a reputation as a talker and a story-teller ; he 
was becoming known as a kind of backwoods orator. He 
could repeat with effect all the poems and speeches in his vari- 
ous school readers, he could imitate to perfection the wander- 
ing preachers who came to Gentryville, and he could make a 
political speech so stirring that he drew a crowd about him 
every time he mounted a stump. The applause he won was 
sweet: and frequently he indulged his gifts when he ought 
to have been working — so thought his employers and 
Thomas, his father. It was trying, no doubt, to the hard- 
pushed farmers, to see the men who ought to have been cut- 
ting grass or chopping wood throw down their scythes nv 
axes and group around a boy, whenever he mounted a stump 
to develop a pet theory or repeat with variations yesterday's 
Fermon. In his fondness for speech-making young Lincoln 
attended all the trials o'f the neighborhood, and frequently 
walked fifteen miles to Boonville to attend court. 

He wrote as well as spoke, and some of his productions 
were printed, through the influence of his admiring neigh- 
bors. Thus a local Baptist preacher was so struck with one 
of Abraham's essays on temperance that he sent it to Ohio, 



EARL\ OPPORTUNITIES 27 

where it is said to have appeared in a newspaper. Another 
article on "National Politics," so pleased a lawyer of the 
vicinity that he declared the '"world couldn't beat it." 

In considering the different opportunities for development 
which the boy had at this time it should not be forgotten that 
he spent many months at one time or another on the Ohio 
and Mississippi rivers. In fact, all that Abraham Lincoln 
saw of men and the world outside of Gentryville and its 
neighborhood, until after he was twenty-one years of age he 
saw on these rivers. For many years the Ohio and the Mis- 
sissippi were the Appian Way, the one route to the world for 
the western settlers. To preserve it they had been willing 
in early times to go to war with Spain or with France, to se- 
cede from the Union, even to join Spain or France against 
the United States if either country would insure their right to 
the highway. In the long years in which the ownership of 
the great river was unsettled, every man of them had come to 
feel with Benjamin Franklin, "3. neighbor might as well ask 
me to sell my street door," In fact, this water-way was their 
"street door," and all that many of them ever saw of the 
world passed here. Up and down the rivers was a con- 
tinual movement. Odd craft of every kind possible on a 
river went by: "arks" and "sleds," with tidy cabins 
where families lived, and where one could see the washing 
stretched, the children playing, the mother on pleasant days 
rocking and sewing; keel-boats, which dodged in and out 
and turned incjuisitive noses up all the creeks and bayous; 
great fleets from the Alleghanies, made up of a score or more 
of timber rafts, and manned by forty or fifty rough boatmen ; 
"Orleans boats," loaded with flour, hogs, produce of all 
kinds; pirogues, made from great trees; "broad-horns;" 
curious nondescripts worked by a wheel; and, after 1812, 
steamboats. 

All this traffic was leisurelv. Men had time to tie up and 



38 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

tell the news and show their wares. Even the steamboats 
loitered as it pleased them. They knew no schedule. They 
stopped anywhere to let passengers off. They tied up 
wherever it was convenient, to wait for fresh wood to be cut 
and loaded, or for repairs to be made. Waiting for repairs, 
seems, in fact, to have absorbed a great deal of the time of 
these early steamers. They were continually running onto 
"sawyers," or "planters," or "wooden islands," and they 
blew up with a regularity which was monotonous. Even 
as late as 1842, when Charles Dickens made the trip down 
the Mississippi, he was often gravely recommended to keep 
as far aft as possible, "because the steamboats generally blew 
up forward." 

With this varied river life Abraham Lincoln first came 
into contact as a ferryman and boatman, when in 1826 he 
spent several months as a ferryman at the mouth of Ander- 
son creek, where it joins the Ohio. This experience sug- 
gested new possibilities to him. It was a custom among the 
farmers of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois at this date to collect a 
quantity of produce, and float down to New Orleans on a 
raft, to sell it. Young Lincoln saw this, and wanted to try 
his fortune as a produce merchant. An incident of his pro- 
jected trip he related once to Mr. Seward : 

"Seward," he said, "did you ever hear how I earned my 
first dollar?" 

"No," said Mr. Seward. 

"Well," replied he, "I was about eighteen years of age, 
and belonged, as you know, to what they call down south the 
'scrubs ;' people who do not own land and slaves are no- 
body there; but we had succeeded in raising, chiefly by my 
labor, sufficient produce, as I thought, to justify me in taking 
it down the river to sell. After much persuasion I had got 
the consent of my mother to go, and had constructed a flat- 
boat large enough to take the few barrels of things we had 
gathered to New Orleans. A steamer was going down the 



EARLY OPPORTUNITIES 39 

river. We have, you know, no wharves on the western 
streams, and the custom was, if passengers were at any of 
the landings tliey were to go out in a boat, the steamer stop- 
ping, and taking them on board. I was contemplating my 
new boat, and wondering wiiether I could make it stronger 
or improve it in any part, when two men with trunks came 
down to the shore in carriages, and looking at the different 
boats, singled out mine, and asked, 'Who owns this?' I 
answered modestly, 'I do.' 'Will you,' said one of them, 
'take us and our trunks out to the steamer?' 'Certainly,' 
'said I. I was very glad to have the chance of earning some- 
thing, and supposed that each of them would give me a 
couple of bits. The trunks were put in my boat, the pas- 
sengers seated themselves on them, and I sculled them out 
to the steamer. They got en board, and I lifted the trunks 
and put them on the deck. The steamer was about to put 
on steam again, when I called out, 'You have forgotten to 
pay me.' Each of them took from his pocket a silver half- 
dollar and threw it on the bottom of my boat. I could 
scarcely believe my eyes as I picked up the money. You 
may think it was a very little thing, and in these days it seems 
to me like a tritle, but it was a most important incident in 
my life. I could scarcely credit that I, the poor boy, had 
earned a dollar in less than a day; that by honest work I 
had earned a dollar. I was f, more hopeful and thoughtful 
boy from that time." 

Soon after this, while he was working for Mr. Gentry, 
the leading citizen of Gentryville, his employer decided to 
send a load o] produce to New Orleans, and chose young 
Lincoln to go as "bow-hand," "to work the front oars." 
For this trip he received eight dollars a month and his pas- 
sage back. Who can believe that he could see and be part 
of this river life without learning much of the ways and 
thoughts of the world beyond him ? Every time a steamboat 
or a raft tied up near Anderson creek and he with his com- 
panions boarded it and saw its mysteries and talked with its 
crew, every time he rowed out with passengers to a passing 



40 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

steamer, who can doubt that he came back with new ideas 
and fresh energy? The trips to New Orleans were, to a 
thoughtful boy, an education of no mean value. It was the 
most cosmopolitan and brilliant city of the United States at 
that date, and there young Lincoln saw life at its intensest. 

Such was Abraham Lincoln's life in Indiana; such were 
the avenues open to him for study and for seeing the world. 
In spite of the crudeness of it all ; in spite of the fact that 
he had no wise direction, that he was brought up by a father 
with no settled purpose, and that he lived in a pioneer com- 
munity, where a young man's life at best is but a series of 
makeshifts, Lincoln soon developed a determination to make 
something out of himself, and a desire to know, which led 
him to neglect no opportunity to learn. 

The only unbroken outside influence which directed and 
stimulated him in these ambitions was that coming first from 
his mother, then from his stepmother. These two women, 
both of them of unusual earnestness and sweetness of spirit, 
were one or the other of them at his side throughout his 
youth and young manhood. The ideal they held before him 
was the simple ideal of the early American, that if a boy is 
upright and industrious he may aspire to any place within 
the gift of the country. The boy's instinct told him they 
were right. Everything he read confirmed their teachings, 
and he cultivated, in every way open to him, his passion to 
know and to be something. His zeal in study, his ambition 
to excel made their impression on his acquaintances. Even 
then they pointed him out as a boy who would "make some- 
thing" of hnnself. In 1865, thirty-five years after he left 
Gentry vi lie, Wm. II. ITerndon, for many years a law part- 
ner of Lincoln, anxious to save all that was known of Lin- 
coln in Indiana, went among his old associates, and with a 
sincerity and thoroughness worthy of grateful respect, inter- 
viewed them. At that time there were still living number."; 



4 



EARLY OPPORTUNITIES 4I 

of the people with whom Lincoln liad been brought up. 
They all remembered something of him. It is curious to 
note that all of these people tell of his doing something dif- 
ferent from what other boys did, something sufficiently su- 
perior to have made a keen impression upon them. In almost 
every case each person had his own special reason for ad- 
miring Lincoln. A facility in making rhymes and writing 
essays was the admiration of many, who considered it the 
more remarkable because "essays and poetry were not taught 
in school," and "Abe took it up on his own account." 

Many others were struck by the clever application he made 
of this gift for expression. At one period he was employed 
as a "hand" by a farmer who treated hini unfairly. Lincoln 
took a revenge unheard of in Gentryville. He wrote dog- 
gerel rhymes about his employer's nose — a long and crooked 
feature about which the owner was very sensitive. The wit 
he showed in taking revenge for a social slight by a satire 
on the Grigsbys, who had failed to invite him to a wedding, 
made a lasting impression in Gentryville. That he should 
write so well as to be able to humiliate his enemies more 
deeply than if he had resorted to the method of taking re- 
venge current in the country, and thrashed them, seemed to 
his friends a mark of surprising superiority. 

His schoolmates all remembered his spelling. He stood 
at the head of his class invariably and at the spelling-matches 
in which the young people of the neighborhood passed many 
an evening the one who first began "choosing sides" always 
chose "Abe Lincoln." So often did he spell the school down 
that finally, tradition says, he was no longer allowed to take 
part in the matches. 

Very many of his old neighbors recalled his reading habits 
and how well stored his mind was with information. His 
explanations of natural phenomena were so unfamiliar to 
his companions that he sometimes was jeered at for them. 



4« 1-IFE OF LINCOLN 

though as a rule his listeners were sympathetic, taking" a 
certain pride in the fact that one of their number knew as 
much as Lincoln did. "He was better read than the world 
knows or is likely to know exactly," said one old acquaint- 
ance. "He often and often commented or talked to me about 
what he had read — seemed to read it out of the hook as he 
went along — did so with others. He was the learned boy 
among us unlearned folks. He took great pains to explain ; 
could do it so simply. He was diffident, then, too." 

One man was impressed by the character of the sentences 
Lincoln had given him for a copybook. "It was considered at 




FACSIMILE OF LIKES FROM LINCOLN'S COPY HOOK. 

that time," said he, "that Abe was the best penman in the 
neighborhood. One day. While he was on a visit at my 
mother's, I asked him to write som.e copies for me. He very 
willingly consented. He wrote several of them, but one of 
them T have never forgotten, although a boy at that time. It 
was this : 

" ' Good boys who to their books apply 
Will all be great men by and by.' " 

His wonderful memory was recalled by many. To save 
that which he found to his diking in the books he borrowed 
Lincoln committed much to memory. He knew many long 
poems, and most of the selections in the "Kentucky Precep- 



EARLY OPPORTUNITIES 43 

tor." By the time he was twenty-one, in fact, his mind was 
well stored with verse and prose. 

All of his comrades remembered his stories and his clear- 
ness in argument. " When he appeared in company," says 
Nat Grigsby, "the boys would gather and cluster around him 
to hear him talk. Mr. Lincoln was figurative in his speech, 
talks, and conversation. He argued much from analogy, 
and explained things hard for us to understand by stories, 
maxims, tales, and figures. He would almost always point 
his lesson or idea by some story that was plain and near us, 
that we might instantly see the force and bearing of what he 
said." This ability to explain clearly and to illustrate by 
simple figures of speech must be counted as the great mental 
acquirement of Lincoln's boyhood. It was a power which he 
gained by hard labor. Years later he related his experience 
to an acquaintance who had been surprised by the lucidity 
and simplicity of his speeches and who had asked where 
he was educated. 

"I never went to school more than six months in 
my life," he said, "but I can say this: that among my 
earliest recollections I remember how, when a mere child, 
I used to get irritated when anybody talked to me in a way I 
could not understand. I do not think I ever got angry at 
anything else in my life; but that always disturbed my tem- 
per, and has ever since. I can remember going to my little 
bedroom, after hearing the neighbors talk of an evening with 
my father, and spending no small part of the night walking 
up and down and trying to make out what was the exact 
meaning of some of their, to me, dark sayings. 

"I could not sleep, although I tried to. when I got on such 
a hunt for an idea until T had caught it ; and when I thought 
I had got it. I was not satisfied until I had repeated it over 
and over; until I had put it in language plain enough, as I 
thought, for any boy I knew to comprehend. This was a 
kind of passion witli me. and it has stuck by me; for I am 
never easy now, when I am handling a thought, till I have 



44 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

bounded it north and bounded it south, and bounded it east 
and bounded it west." 

Mr. Herndon in his interviewing in Indiana found that 
everywhere Lincohi was remembered as kind and helpful. 
The man or woman in trouble never failed to receive all the 
aid he could give him. Even a worthless drunkard of the 
village called him friend, as well he might, Lincoln having 
gathered him up one night from the roadside where he lay 
freezing and carried iiim on his back a long distance to a 
shelter and a fire. The thoughtless cruelty to animals so 
common among country children revolted the boy. He 
wrote essays on "cruelty to animals," harangued his play- 
mates, protested whenever he saw any wanton abuse of a 
dumb creature. This gentleness made a lasting impression 
on his mates, coupled as it was with the physical strength 
and courage to enforce his doctrines. Stories of his good 
heart and helpful life might be multiplied but they are 
summed up in what his stepmother said of the boy : 

"Abe was a good boy, and I can say what scarcely one 
woman — a mother — can say in a thousand : Abe never gave 
me a cross word or look, and never refused, in fact or ap- 
pearance, to do anything [ re()uested him. 1 never gave him 
a cmss word in all my life. . . . His mind and mine — 
what little I had — seemed to run together. He was here 
after he was elected president. He was a dutiful son to me 
always. I think he loved me truly. I had a son, John, who 
was raised with Abe. Both were good boys ; but I must say, 
both now Ijeing dead, that Abe was the best boy I ever saw, 
or expect to see." 



CHAPTER iV 

THE LINCOLNS LEAVE INDIANA THE JOURNEY TO ILLINOIS 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN STARTS OUT FOR HIMSELF 

In THE Spring of 1830 when Abraham Lincoln was 
twenty-one years old, his father, Thomas Lincoln, decided to 
leave Indiana. The reason Dennis Hanks gives for this re- 
moval was a disease called the "milk-sick." Abraham Lin- 
coln's mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, and several of their 
relatives who had followed them from Kentucky had died of 
it. The cattle had been carried off by it. Neither brute nor 
human life seemed to be safe. As Dennis Hanks says: 
"This was reason enough (ain't it) for leaving?"' Any one 
who has traveled through the portions of Spencer County in 
which the Lincolns settled will respect Thomas Lincoln for 
his energy in moving. When covered with timber, as the 
land was when he chose his farm, it no doubt promised well ; 
but fourteen years of hard labor showed him that the soil 
was niggardly and the future of the country unpromising. 
To-day, sixty-five years since the Lincolns left Spencer 
County, the country remains as it was then. dull, common- 
place, unfruitful. The towns show no signs of energy or 
prosperity. There are no leading streets or buildings ; no 
man's house is better than his neighbor's, and every man's 
house is ordinary. For a long distance on each side of Gen- 
try ville as one passes by rail, no superior farm is to be seen, 
no prosperous farm or manufactory. It is a dead monotonous 
country, where no possibilities of quick wealth have been dis- 
covered, and which only centuries of tilling and fertilizing 
can make prosperous. 

45 



46 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

The place chosen for their new home was the Sangamon 
country in central Illinois. It was at that day a country of 
great renown in the West, the name meaning "The land 
where there is plenty to eat." One of the family — John 
Hanks, a cousin of Abraham's mother — was already there, 
and the inviting reports he had sent to Indiana were no doubt 
what led the Lincolns to decide on Illinois as their future 
home. Gentryville saw young Lincoln depart with genuine 
regret, and his friends gave him a score of rude proofs that 
he would not be forgotten. After he was gone, one of these 
friends planted a cedar tree in his memory. It still marks the 
site of the Lincoln home — the first monument erected to the 
memory of a man to whom the world will never cease to raise 
monuments. 

The spot on the hill overlooking Buckthorne valley, where 
the Lincolns said good-by to their old home and to the hom.e 
of Sarah Lincoln Grigsby, to the grave of the mother and 
wife, to all their neighbors and friends, is still pointed out. 
Buckthorne valley held many recollections dear to them all, 
but to no one of the company was the place dearer than to 
Abraham. It is certain that he felt the parting keenly, and 
that he never forgot his years in the Hoosier State. One of 
the most touching experiences he relates in all his published 
letters is his emotion at visiting his old Indiana home four- 
teen years after he had left it. So strongly was he moved by 
the scenes of his first conscious sorrows, efforts, joys, am- 
bitions, that he put into verse the feelings they awakened. 

While he never attempted to conceal the poverty and hard- 
ship of these days, and would speak humorously of the 
"pretty pinching times" he experienced, he never regarded 
his life at this time as mean or pitiable. Frequently he talked 
to his friends in later days of his boyhood, and always with 
apparent pleasure. "Mr. Lincoln told this story (of his 
youth)," says Leonard Swett, "as the story of a happy child- 




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STARTS OUT FOR HIMSELF 47 

hood. There was nothing sad or pinched, and nothing of 
want, and no allusion to want in any part of it. His own de- 
scription of his youth was that of a happy, joyous boyhood. 
It was told with mirth and glee, and illustrated by pointed 
anecdotes, often interrupted by his jocund laugh." 

And he was right. There was nothing ignoble or mean in 
this Indiana pioneer life. It was rude, but only with the 
rudeness which the ambitious are willing to endure in order 
to push on to a better condition than they otherwise could 
know. These people did not accept their hardships apatheti- 
cally. They did not regard them as permanent. They were 
only the temporary deprivations necessary in order to accom- 
plish what they had come into the country to do. For this 
reason they endured hopefully all that was hard. It is worth 
notice, too, that there was nothing belittling in their life; there 
was no pauperism, no shirking. Each family provided for 
its own simple wants, and had the conscious dignity which 
comes from being equal to a situation. If their lives lacked 
culture and refinement, they were rich in independence and 
self-reliance. 

The company which emigrated to Illinois included the 
family of Thomas Lincoln and those of Dennis Hanks and 
Levi Hall, married to Lincoln's stepsisters — thirteen per- 
sons in all. They sold land, cattle and grain, and much of 
their household goods, and were ready in March of 1830 for 
their journey. All the possessions which the three families 
had to take with them v/ere packed into big wagons — 
to which oxen were attached, and the caravan was ready. 
The weather was still cold, the streams were swollen, and the 
roads were muddy; but the party started out 1)ravely. In- 
ured to hardships, alive to all the new sights on their route, 
every day brought them amusement and adventures, and es- 
pecially to young Lincoln the journey must have been of keen 
interest. 



48 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

He drove one of the teams, he tells us, and, accord- 
ing to a story current in Gentryville, he succeeded in doing a 
fair peddler's business on the route. Captain William Jones, 
in whose father's store Lincoln had spent so many hours in 
discussion and in story-telling, and for whom he had worked 
the last winter he was in Indiana, says that before leaving 
the State Abraham invested all his money, some thirty-odd 
dollars, in notions. Though all the country through which 
they expected to pass was but sparsely settled, he believed he 
could dispose of them. "A set of knives and forks was the 
largest item entered on the bill," says Captain Jones; "the 
other items were needles, pins, thread, buttons, and other 
little domestic necessities. When the Lincolns reached their 
new home near Decatur, Illinois, Abraham wrote back to my 
father, stating that he had douT^led his money on his purchases 
by selling them along the road. Unfortunately we did not 
keep that letter, not thinking how highly we would have 
prized it in years afterwards." 

The pioneers were a fortnight on their journey. All we 
know of the route they took is from a few chance remarks of 
Lincoln's to his friends to the effect that they passed through 
Vincennes, where he saw a printing-press for the first time, 
and through Palestine, where he saw a juggler performing 
sleight-of-hand tricks. They reached Macon County, their 
new home, from the south. Mr. H. C. Whitney says that 
once in Decatur, when he and Lincoln were passing the court- 
house together, "Lincoln walked out a few feet in front, 
and. after shifting his position two or three times, said, as he 
looked up at the building, partly to himself and partly to me : 
'Here is the exact si)()t where T stood by our wagon when 
we moved from Indiana, twenty-six years ago ; this isn't six 
feet from the exact spot.' . . . He then told me he had 
frequently thereafter tried to locate the r^^ute by which they 



STARTS OUT FOR HIMSELF 49 

had come, and that he had decided that it was near the main 
hne of the Ihinois Central railroad." 

The party settled some ten miles west of Decatur, in Ala- 
con County. Here John Hanks had the logs already cut for 
their new home, and Linct)ln, Dennis Hanks, and Hall soon 
had a cabin erected. Mr. Lincoln says in his short autobi- 
ography of i860: "Here they built a log cabin, into which 
they removed, and made sufficient of rails to fence ten acres 
of ground, fenced and broke the ground, and raised a crop i)i 
sown corn upon it the same year. These are, or are supposed 
to be. the rails al)Out which so much is being said just now, 
though these are far from being the first or only rails ever 
made by Abraham." If they were far from being his "first 
and only rails," they certainly were the mcjst famous ones he 
or anybody else ever split. 

This was the last work Lincoln did for his father, for in 
the summer of that year (1830) he exercised the right of 
majority and started out to shift for himself. When he left 
his home, he went empty-handed. He was already some 
months over twenty-one years of age, but he had nothing in 
the world, not even a suit of respectable clothes; and one of 
the first pieces of work he did was "to split four hundred rails 
for everv vard of brown jeans dved with white-walnut bark 
that would be necessary to make him a pair of trousers." He 
had no trade, no profession, no spot of land, no patron, no 
influence. Two things recommended him to his neiglibors — 
he was strong, and he was a good fellow. 

His strength made him a valuable laborer. Not that he was 
fond of hard labor. One of his Indiana employers says : "Abe 
was no hand to pitch into work like killing snakes ;" but when 
he did work, it was with an ease and efl:'ectiveness which 
compensated his employer for the time he spent in practical 
jokes and extemporaneous speeches. He could lift as much 
as three ordinary men, and "My, how he would chop," says 
(4) 



50 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Dennis Hanks. "His axe would flash and bite into a sugar- 
tree or sycamore and down it would come. If you heard him 
fellin' trees in a clearin', you would say there was three men 
at work by the way the trees fell." 

Standing six feet four, he could out-lift, out-work and 
out-wrestle any man he came in contact with. Friends and 
employers were proud of his prowess, and boasted of it, never 
failing to pit him against any hero whose strength they heard 
vaunted. He himself was proud of it, and throughout his 
life was fond of comparing himself with tall and strong men. 
When the committee called on him in Springfield in i860, to 
notify him of his nomination as President, Governor Mor- 
gan, of New York, was of the number, a man of great height 
and brawn. "Pray, Governor, how tall may you be?" was Mr. 
Lincoln's first question. There is a story told of a poor man 
seeking a favor from him once at the White House. He was 
overpowered by the idea that he was in the presence of the 
President, and, his errand done, was edging shyly away, 
when Mr. Lincoln stopped him, insisting that he measure 
with him. The man was the taller, as Mr. Lincoln had 
thought ; and he went away evidently as much abashed that 
he dared be taller than the President of the United States as 
that he had dared to venture into his presence. 

Governor Hoyt tells an excellent story illustrating this in- 
terest of Lincoln's in manly strength, and his involuntary 
comparison of himself with whomsoever showed it. It was in 
1859. after Lincoln had delivered a speech at the Wisconsin 
State Agricultural Fair in Milwaukee. Governor Hoyt had 
asked him to make the rounds of the exhibits, and they went 
into a tent to see a "strong man" perform. He went through 
the ordinary exercises with huge iron balls, tossing them in 
the air, and catching them and rolling them on his arms and 
back ; and Mr. Lincoln, who evidently had never before seen 
such a combination of agility and strength, watched him with 



STARTS OUT FOR HIMSELF 51 

intense interest, ejaculating under his breath now and then : 
"By George ! By George ! ' When the performance was over, 
Governor Hoyt, seeing Mr. Lincohi's interest, asked him to 
go up and be introduced to the athlete. He did so ; and, as he 
stood looking down musingly on the man, who was very 
short, and evidently wondering that one so much smaller 
than he could be so much stronger, he suddenly broke out 
with one of his quaint speeches. "Why," he said, "why, I 
could lick salt off the top of your hat." 

His strength won him popularity, but his good-nature, his 
wit, his skill in debate, his stories, were still more efficient in 
gaining him good-will. People liked to have him around, and 
voted him a good fellow to work with. Yet such were the 
conditions of his life at this time that, in spite of his popu- 
larity, nothing was open to him but hard manual labor. To 
take the first job which he happened upon — rail-splitting, 
ploughing, lumbering, boating, store-keeping — and make the 
most of it, thankful if thereby he earned his bed and board 
and yearly suit of jeans, was apparently all there was before 
Abraham Lincoln in 1830, when he started out for himself. 

Through the summer and fall of 1830 and the early winter 
of 183 1, Mr. Lincoln worked in the vicinity of his father's 
new home, usually as a farm-hand and rail-splitter. Most of 
his work was done in company with John Hanks. Before the 
end of the winter he secured employment of which he has 
given an account himself, though in the third person : 

"During that winter, Abraham, together with his step- 
mother's son, John D. Johnston, and John Hanks, yet resid- 
ing ill Maccin County, hired themseUes to Denton Offutt to 
take a flatboat from Beardstown, Illinois, to New Orleans, 
and for that purpose were to join him — Offutt — at S])ring- 
field, Illinois, as soon as the snow should go oft". When it did 
go off, which was about the first of March, 183 1, the country 
was so fiooded as to make traveling by land impracticable; to 
obviate which difficulty they purchased a large canoe and 



52 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

came down the Sangamon river in it. This is the time and 
manner of Abraham's first entrance into Sangamon County. 
They found Offutt at Springfield, but learned from him that 
he had failed in getting a boat at Beardstown. This led to 
their hiring themselves to him for twelve dollars per month 
each, and getting the timber out of the trees, and building a 
boat at old Sangamon town, on the Sangamon river, sex'en 
miles northwest of Springfield, which boat they took to New 
Orleans, substantially on the old contract." 

Sangamon town, where Lincoln Imilt the flatboat, has. 
since his day, completely disappeared from the earth ; but 
then it w"as one of the flourishing settlements on the river of 
that name. Lincoln's advent in the town did not go unno- 
ticed. In a small community, cut off from the Avorld, as ok' 
Sangamon was, every new-comer is scrutinized and discussed 
before he is regarded with confidence. Lincoln did not es- 
cape this scrutiny. His appearance was so striking in fact 
that he attracted everybody's attention. "He was a tall, 
gaunt young man," says Mr. John Roll, of Springfield, then 
a resident of Sangamon, "dressed in a suit of blue homespun 
jeans, consisting of a round-about jacket, waistcoat, and 
breeches which came to within about four inches of his feet. 
The latter were encased in rawhide boots, into the tops of 
which, most of the time, his pantaloons were stuffed. He 
wore a soft felt hat which had at one time been black, but 
no\v, as its owner dryly remarked, 'was sun-burned until it 
was a combine of colors.' " 

It took some four weeks to l)uild the raft, and in that pe- 
riod Lincoln succeeded in cai)tivating the entire village by his 
story-telling. It was the custom in Sangamon for the "men- 
folks" to gather at noon and in the evening, when resting, in 
a con\-enient lane near the mill. They had rolled (Uit a long 
peeled log, on ^vbich thcv lounged while they whittled rind 
talked. Lincoln had not been long in Sangamon before he 
joined this circle. At once he became a favorite by his jokes 



STARTS OUT FOR HIMSELF 53 

and goocl-humor. As soon as he appeared at the asseiTibiy 
ground the men would start him to story-tehing. So irresist- 
ibly droll were his "yarns" that, says Mr. Roll, "whenever 
he'd end up in his unexpected way the boys on the log would 
whoop and roll off." The result of the rolling off was to pol- 
ish the log like a mirror. The men, recognizing Lincoln's 
part in this polishing, christened their seat "Abe's log." Long 
after Lincoln had disappeared from Sangamon, "Abe's log" 
remained, and until it had rotted away people pointed it out, 
and repeated the droll stories of the stranger. 

When the fiatboat was finished Lincoln and his friends pre- 
pared to leave Sangamon. Before he started, however, he 
was the hero of an adventure so thrilling that he won new 
laurels in the community. Mr. Roll, who was a witness of the 
whole exciting scene, tells the story : 

"It was the spring following the winter of the deep snow.* 
Walter Carman, John Seamon and myself, and at times oth- 
ers of the Carman ]:)oys had heli)ed Abe in building the boat, 
and when we had finished we went to work to make a dug- 
out, or canoe, to be used as a small boat with the flat. We 
found a suitable log about an eighth of a mile up the river, 
and with our axes went to work under Lincoln's direction. 
The river was very high, fairly 'booming.' After the dug- 
out was ready to launch we took it to the edge of the water, 
and made ready to 'let her go,' when Walter Carman and 
John Seamon jumped in as the boat struck the water, each 
one anxious to be the first to get a ride. As they shot out from 
the shore they found they were unable to make any headway 
against the strong current. Carman had the paddle, and Sea- 
mon was in the stern of the boat. Lincoln shouted to them to 
'head up stream.' and 'work back to shore,' but they found 
themselves powerless against the stream. At last they began 
to pull for the wreck of an old flatboat, the first ever built on 

*i830 — 1831. "The winter of the deep snow" is tlie date which is the 
starting point in all calculations of time for the early settlers of Illinois, 
and the circumstance from which the old settlers of Sangamon Cout;*y 
receive the name by which they are generally known, "Snow-birds.' 



54 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

the Sangamon, which had sunk and gone to pieces, leaving 
one of the stanchions sticking above the water. Just as they 
reached it Seamon made a grab, and caught hold of the 
stanchion, when the canoe capsized, leaving Seamon clinging 
to the old timber, and throwing Carman into the stream. It 
carried him down with the speed of a mill-race. Lincoln 
raised his voice above the roar of the flood, and yelled to Car- 
man to swim for an old tree which stood almost in the chan- 
nel, which the action of the high water had changed. 

" Carman, being a good swimmer, succeeded in catching 
a branch, and pulled himself up out of the water, which was 
very cold, and had almost chilled him to death ; and there he 
sat shivering and chattering in the tree. Lincoln, seeing Car- 
man safe, called out to Seamon to let go the stanchion and 
swim for the tree. With some hesitation he obeyed, and 
struck out, while Lincoln cheered and directed him from the 
bank. As Seamon neared the tree he made one grab for a 
branch, and, missing it, went under the water. Another des- 
perate lunge was successful, and he climbed up beside Car- 
man. Things were pretty exciting now, for there were two 
men in the tree, and the boat was gone. 

"It was a cold, raw April day, and there was great danger 
of the men becoming benumbed, and falling back into the 
water. Lincoln called out to them to keep their spirits up and 
he would save them. The village had been alarmed by this 
time, and many people had come down to the bank. Lincoln 
procured a rope, and tied it to a log. He called all hands to 
come and helj) roll the log into the water, and after this had 
been done, he, with the assistance of several others, towed it 
some distance up the stream. A daring young fellow by the 
name of 'Jim' Dorrell then took his seat on the end of the log, 
and it was pushed out into the current, with the expectation 
that it would be carried down stream against the tree where 
Seamon and Carman were. 

"The log was well directed, and went straight to the tree; 
but Jim, in his impatience to help his friends, fell a victim 
to his good intentions. Making a frantic grab at a branch, 
he raised himself off the log, which was swept from under 
him by the raging water, and he soon joined the other two 
victims upon tlieir forlorn perch. The excitement on shore 



STARTS OUT FOR HIMSELF 55 

increased, and almost the whole population of the village 
gathered on the river bank. Lincoln had the log pulled up the 
stream, and, securing another piece of rope, called to the men 
in the tree to catch it if they could when he should reach the 
tree. He then straddled the log himself, and gave the word 
to push out into the stream. When he dashed into the tree, he 
threw the rope over the stump of a broken limb, and let it 
play until it broke the speed of the log, and gradually drew it 
back to the tree, holding it tliere until the three now nearly 
frozen men had climbed down and seated themselves astride. 
He then gave orders to the people on the shore to hold fast 
to the end of the rope which was tied to the log, and, leaving 
his rope in the tree he turned the log adrift. The force of the 
current, acting against the taut rope, swung the log around 
against the bank, and all 'on board' were saved. The excited 
people, who had watched the dangerous experiment with al- 
ternate hope and fear, now broke into cheers for Abe Lincoln 
and praises for his brave act. This adventure made quite a 
hero of him along the Sangamon, and the people never tired 
telling of the exploit." 

The flatboat built and loaded, the party started for New 
Orleans about the middle of April. They had gone but a few 
miles when they met with another adventure. At the village 
of New Salem there was a mill-dam. On it the boat stuck, 
and here for nearly twenty- four hours it hung, the bow in the 
air and the stern in the water, the cargo slowly setting back- 
wards — shipwreck almost certain. The village of New Salem 
turned out in a body to see what the strangers would do in 
their predicament. They shouted, suggested, and advised for 
a time, but finally discovered that one big fellow in the crew 
was ignoring them and working out a plan of relief. Having 
unloaded the cargo into a neighboring boat, Lincoln had suc- 
ceeded in lilting his craft. Then, by boring a hole in the end 
extending over the dam, the water was let out. This done, 
the boat was easily shoved over and reloaded. The ingenuity 
which he had exercised in saving his boat made a deep im- 



56 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

pression on the crowd on the bank, and it was talked over foi 
many a day. The proprietor of boat and cargo was even more 
enthusiastic than the spectators, and vowed he would build a 
steamboat for the Sangamion and make Lincoln the captain. 
Lincoln himself was interested in w^hat he had done, and 
nearly twenty years later he embodied his reflections on this 
adventure in a curious invention for getting boats over 
shoals. 

The raft over the New Salem dam, the party went on to 
New Orleans, reaching there in May, 183 1, and remaining a 
month. It must have been a month of intense intellectual 
activity for Lincoln. Since his lirst visit, made with young 
Gentry, New Orleans had entered upon her "flush times." 
Commerce was increasing at a rate which dazzled specula- 
tors and drew them from all over the United States. From 
1830 to 1840 no other American city increased in such 
a ratio; exports and imports, which in 183 1 amounted 
to $26,000,000, in 1835 had more than doubled. The Creole 
population had held the sway so far in the city; but now it 
came into competition, and often into conflict, with a push- 
ing, ambitious, and frequently unscrupulous native Ameri- 
can party. To these two predominating elements were added 
Germans, French, Spanish, negroes, and Indians. Cosmo- 
politan in its make-up. tlic city was even more cosmopolitan 
in its life. Everything was to be seen in New Orleans in those 
days, from the idle luxury of the wealthy Creole to the or- 
ganization of filibustering juntas. The pirates still plied their 
trade in the Gulf, and the Mississippi river brought down 
hundreds of river boatmen — one of the wildest, wickedest 
set of men that ever existed in any city. 

Lincoln and his companions ran their boat up beside thou- 
sands of others. It was the custom to tie such craft along 
the river front where St. Mary's Market now stands, and 
one could walk a mile, it is said, over the tops of these boats 



STARTS OUT FOR HIMSELF 57 

without going ashore. No doubt Lincohi went too, to live in 
the boatmen's rendezvous, called the "swamp," a wild, roiigh 
(juarter, where roulette, whiskey, and the llint-U)ck pistol 
ruled. All of ihe picturesque life, the violent contrasts of the 
city, he would see as he wandered about ; and he would carry 
away the sharp impressions which are produced when mind 
and heart are alert, sincere, and healthy. 

In this month spent in New Orleans, Lincoln must have 
seen much of slavery. At that time the city was full of slaves, 
and the number was constantly increasing; indeed, one-third 
of the New Orleans increase in population between 1830 and 
1840 was in negroes. One of the saddest features of the in- 
stitution was to be seen there in its aggravated form — the 
slave market. The better class of slave-holders of the South, 
who looked on tlie institution as patriarchal, and who 
guarded their slaves with conscientious care, knew little, 
it should be said, of this terriljle traffic. Their transfer of 
slaves was humane, but in the open markets of the city it was 
attended by shocking cruelty and degradation. Lincoln wit- 
nessed in New Orleans for the first time the revolting sight of 
men and women sold like animals. Mr. Ilerndon says that he 
often heard Mr. Lincoln refer to this experience : 

"In New Orleans for the first time," he writes, ''Lincoln 
beheld the true horrors of human slavery. He saw 'negroes 
in chains — whipped and scourged.' Against this inhumanity 
his sense of right and justice rebelled, and his mind and con- 
science were awakened to a realization of what he had often 
heard and read. No doubt, as one of his companions has said, 
'slavery ran the iron into him then and there.' One morning 
in their rambles over the city the trio pas.sed a slave auction. 
A vigorous and comely mulatto girl was being sold. She un- 
derwent a thorough examination at the hands of the bidders ; 
they pinched her flesh, and made her trot up and down the 
room like a horse, to show how she moved, and in order, as 
the auctioneer said, that 'bidders might satisfy themselves 



58 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

whether the article they were offering to buy was sound or 
not.' The whole thing was so revolting that Lincoln moved 
away from the scene with a deep feeling of 'unconquerable 
hate.' Bidding his companions follow him, he said: 'Boys, 
let's get away from this. If ever J get a chance to hit that 
thing' (meaning slavery), 'I'll hit it hard.' " 

Mr. Herndon gives John Hanks as his authority for this 
statement, but, according to Mr. Lincoln's autobiography, 
Hanks did not go on to New Orleans, but, having a family, 
and finding that he was likely to be detained from home 
longer than he had expected, he turned back at St. Louis. 
Though the story as told above probably grew to its present 
proportions by much telling, there is reason to believe that 
Lincoln was deeply impressed on this trip by something he 
saw in a New Orleans slave market, and that he often re- 
ferred to it. 



CHAPTER V 

LINCOLN SECURES A POSITION — HE STUDIES GRAMMAR- 
FIRST APPEARANCE IN POLITICS 

The month in New Orleans passed swiftly, and in June, 
183 1, Lincoln and his companions took passage up the river. 
He did not return^ however, in the usual condition of the 
river boatman "out of a job." According to his own way of 
putting it, "during this boat-enterprise acquaintance with 
Offutt, who was previously an entire stranger, he conceived a 
liking for Abraham, and believing he could turn him to ac- 
count he contracted with him to act as a clerk for him on his 
return from New Orleans, in charge of a store and mill at 
New Salem." The store and mill were, however, so far only 
in Offutt's imagination, and Lincoln had to drift about until 
his employer was ready for him. He made a short visit to his 
father and mother, now in Coles County, near Charleston 
(fever and ague had driven the Lincolns from their first 
home in Macon County), and then, in July, 183 1, he went to 
New Salem, where, as he says, he "stopped indefinitely, and 
for the first time, as it were, by himself." 

The village of New Salem, the scene of Lincoln's mercan- 
tile career, was one of the many little towns which, in the pio- 
neer days, sprang up along the Sangamon river, a stream 
then looked upon as navigable and as destined to be counted 
among the highways of commerce. Twenty miles northwest 
of Springfield, strung along the left bank of the Sangamon, 
parted by hollows and ravines, is a row of high hills. On 
one of these — a long, narrow ridge, beginning with a sharp 
and sloping point near the river, running south, and parallel 

59 



6o LIFE OF LINCOLN 

with the stream a Httle way, and then, reaching its highest 
point, making a sudden turn to the west, and gradually 
widening until lost in the prairie — stood this frontier village. 
The crooked river for a short distance comes from the east, 
and, seemingly surprised at meeting the blufl;, abruptly 
changes its course, and flows to the north. Across the river 
the bottom stretches out half a mile back to the highlands. 
New Salem, founded in 1829 by James Rutledge and John 
Cameron, and a dozen years later a deserted village, is res- 
cued only from oblivion by the fact that Lincoln was once 
one of its inhabitants. The town never contained more than 
fifteen houses, all of them built of logs, but it had an ener- 
getic population of perhaps one hundred persons, among 
whom were a blacksmith, a tinner, a hatter, a schoolmaster 
and a preacher. New Salem boasted a grist-mill, a saw-mill, 
two stores and a tavern, but its day of hope was short. In 
1837 it began to decline and by 1840, Petersburg, two miles 
down the river, had absorbed its business and population. Sa- 
lem Hill is now only a green cow pasture. - '^ 

Lincoln's first sight of the town had been in April, 1831, 
when he and his crew had been detained in getting their flat- 
boat o\cr the Rutledge and Cameron mill-dam. When he 
v/alked into New Salem, three months later, he was not alto- 
gether a stranger, for the people remembered him as the in- 
genious flat-1)oatman who had freed his boat from water by 
resorting to the miraculous expedient of boring a hole in the 
bottom. 

Offutt's goods had not arrived when Mr. Lincoln reached 
New Salem ; and he ''loafed" about, so those who remember 
his arri\al say, good-naturedly taking a hand in whatever he 
could find to do, and in his (In)ll way making friends of ev- 
erybody. By chance, a l)it of work fell to him almost at once, 
which introduced him generally and gave him an opportunity 



FIRST APPEARANCE IN POLITICS 6l 

to make a name in the neighborhood. It was election day. In 
those days elections in IlHnois were conducted by the z'iva 
voce method. The people did try voting by ballot, l)iit the ex- 
])eriment was unpopular. It required too much form and 
in 1829 the former method of voting was restored. Tlie 
judges and clerks sat at a table with the poll-bo.>k l)efore 
them. The voter walked up, and announced the candidate of 
his choice, and it was recorded in his presence. There was no 
ticket peddling, and ballot-box stuffing was impossible. The 
village school-master, Mentor Graham by name, was clerk at 
this particular election, but ln"s assistant was ill. Looking 
about for some one to help him, Mr. Graham saw a tall 
stranger loitering around the polling-place, and called to 
him : " Can you write? " " Yes," said the stranger, " I can 
make a few rabbit tracks." Mr. Graham evidently was satis- 
fied with the answer, for he promptly initiated him : and he 
filled his place not only to the satisfaction of his employer, 
but also to the delectation of the loiterers about the polls, for 
whenever things dragged he immediately began " to spin out 
a stock of Indian yarns." So droll were they that men who 
listened to Lincoln that day repeated them long after to their 
friends. He had made a hit in New Salem, to start with, and 
here, as in Sangamon town, it was by means of his story-tcll- 



mg. 



A few days later he accepted an offer to pilot down tlie 
Sangamon and Illinois rivers, as far as Beardstown, a ilat- 
boat bearing the family and goods of a pioneer bound for 
Texas. At Beardstown he found Offutt's goods, waiting to 
be taken to New Salem. As he footed his way home he found 
two men with a wagon and ox-teara going for the goods. 
Offutt had expected Lincoln to wait at Beardstown until the 
ox-team arrived, and the teamsters, not having any creden- 
tials, asked Lincoln to give them an order for the goods. 



62 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

This, sitting down by the roadside, he wrote out ; one of the 
men used to relate that it contained a misspelled word, which 
he corrected. 

When the oxen and their drivers returned with the goods, 
tjie store was opened in a little log house on the brink of the 
hill, almost over the river. The precise date of the opening 
of Denton Offutt's store is not known. We only know that 
on July 8, 1831, the County Commissioners' Court of Sanga- 
mon County granted Offutt a license to retail merchandise 
at New Salem, for which he paid five dollars, a fee which 
supposed him to have one thousand dollars' worth of goods 
in stock. 

The frontier store filled a unique place. Usually it was a 
" general store," and on its shelves were found most of the 
articles needed in a community of pioneers. But supplying 
goods and groceries was not its only function ; it was the pio- 
neer's intellectual and social center. It was the common meet- 
ing-place of the farmers, the happy refuge of the village 
loungers. No subject was unknown there. The habitues of 
the place were equally at home in discussing politics, reli- 
gion, or sports. Stories were told, jokes were cracked, and 
the news contained in the latest newspaper finding its way 
into the wilderness was repeated again and again. Lincoln 
could hardly have chosen surroundings more favorable to 
the highest development of the art of story-telling, and he 
had not been there long before his reputation for drollery 
was established. 

But he gained popularity and respect in other ways. There 
was near the village a settlement called Clary's Grove, the 
most conspicuous part of whose population was an organiza- 
tion known as the " Clary's Grove Boys." They exercised a 
veritable terror over the neighborhood, and yet they were not 
a bad set of fellows. Mr. Hemdon, who knew personally 
many of the " boys," says: 



FIRST APPEARANCE IN POLITICS 63 

"They were friendly and good-natured ; they could trench 
a pond, dig a bog, build a house ; they could pray and fight, 
make a village or create a state. They would do almost any- 
thing for sport or fun, love or necessity. Though rude and 
rough, though life's forces ran over the edge of the bowl, 
foaming and sparkling in pure deviltry for deviltry's sake, 
yet place before them a poor man who needed their aid, a 
lame or sick man, a defenceless woman, a widow, or an or- 
phaned child, they melted into sympathy and charity at once. 
They gave all they had, and willingly toiled or played cards 
for more. Though there never was under the sun a more 
generous parcel of rowdies, a stranger's introduction was 
likely to be the most unpleasant part of his acquaintance with 
them." 

Denton Offutt, Lincoln's employer, was just the man to 
love to boast before such a crowd. He seemed to feel that 
Lincoln's physical prowess shed glory on himself, and he de- 
clared the country over that his clerk could lift more, throw 
farther, run faster, jump higher, and wrestle better than any 
man in Sangamon county. The Clary's Grove Boys, of 
course, felt in honor bound to prove this false, and they ap- 
pointed their best man, one Jack Armstrong, to "throw Abe." 
Jack Armstrong was, according to the testimony of all who 
remember him, a "powerful twister," "square built and 
strong as an ox," "the best-made man that ever lived;" and 
everybody knew that a contest between him and Lincoln 
would be close. Lincoln did not like to "tussle and scuffle," 
he objected to "woolling and pulling;" but Offutt had gone 
so far that it became necessary to yield. The match was held 
on the ground near the grocery. Clary's Grove and New Sa- 
lem turned out generally to witness the bout, and betting on 
the result ran high, the community as a whole staking their 
jack-knives, tobacco plugs, and "treats" on Armstrong. The 
two men had scarcely taken hold of each other before it was 
evident that the Clary's Grove champion had met a match. 



04 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

The two men wrestled long and hard, but both kept their feet. 
Neither could throw the other, and Armstrong, convinced of 
this, tried a "foul." Lincoln no sooner realized the game of 
his antagonist than, furious with indignation, he caught him 
by the throat, and holding him out at arm's length, he "shook 
him like a child." Armstrong's friends rushed to his aid, and 
for a moment it looked as if Lincoln would be routed by sheer 
force of numbers; but he held his own so bravely that the 
"boys," in spite of their sympathies, were filled with admira- 
tion. What bid fair to be a general fight ended in a general 
hand-shake, even Jack Armstrong declaring that Lincoln was 
the "best fellow who ever broke into the camp." From that 
day, at the cock-fights and horse-races, which were their 
common sports, he became the chosen umpire; and when the 
entertainment broke up in a row — a not uncommon occur- 
rence — he acted the peacemaker without suffering the peace- 
maker's usual fate. Such was his reputation with the 
"Clary's Grove Boys," after three months in New Salem, 
that when the fall muster came off he was elected captain. 

Lincoln showed soon that if he was unwilling to indulge in 
"woolling and pulling" for amusement, he did not object to 
it in the interests of decency and order. In such a community 
as New Salem there are always braggarts who can only be 
made endurable l)y fear. To them Lincoln soon became an au- 
thority more to be respected than sheriff or constable. If they 
transgressed in his jM-esence he thrashed them promptly with 
an imperturbable air, half indolent. Init wholly resolute which 
was more baffling and impressive than even his iron grip and 
well-directed blows. A man came into the store one day and 
began swearing. Now, profanity in the presence of women, 
Lincoln never would allovv. He asked the man to stop; but 
he persisted, loudly boasting that nobody should prevent his 
saying what he wanted to. The women gone, the man began 
to abuse Lincoln so hotly that the latter said : "Well, if you 











T 



■,^^. 



lAMIfJAR LECTURES. 

■ ' - ^^ 

^ A NEW .^VSTEUAIICS ORDER OF PAILSISC, 

A KBV TO The EXER-CXSK^;: 

-ft»THE USE or;scacipr,s A(»D ?!iiviT«: T;f%,,. 



Bv SAMmjii. laasHAM 










■^ 



THE KIRKHAM'S GRAMMAR USED BY LINCOLK AT NEW SALEM. 
It is said that Lii 



— „incolri learned this grammar practically by heart. He presented the hook (c 

in Rutledge. After the death of Ann, it was studied by her brother, Robert, and is now owned 
his widow, at Casselton, Xorili Dakota. The words, "Ann M. llutledLCo is now learning 
itnmar," were written by Lincoln. The order on .fames Rutledge to pay Daniel P. .Nelson 
irty dollars and signed "A. Lincoln for D. Otiutt." was oasted upon the front cover of the 
sk by Robert Rutledge. 

Sec D(U)6 fi(i 



FIRST APPEARANCE IN POLITICS ^5 

must be whipped, I suppose I might as well whip you as an> 
other man;" and going outdoors with the fellow, he threw 
him on the ground, and rubbed smart-weed into his eyes until 
he bellowed for mercy. New Salem's sense of chivalry was 
touched, and Denton Offutt's clerk became more of a hero 
than ever. 

His honesty excited no less admiration. Two incidents 
seem to have particularly impressed the community. Having' 
discovered on one occasion that he had taken six and one- 
quarter cents too much from a customer, he walked three 
miles that evening, after his store was closed, to return the 
money. Again, he weighed out a half-pound of tea, as lie 
supposed. It was night, and this was the last thing he did be- 
fore closing up. On entering in the morning he discovered a 
four-ounce weight in the scales. He saw his mistake, and 
closing up shop, hurried off to deliver the remainder of the 
tea. This unusual regard for the rights of others soon won 
him the title of "Honest Abe." 

As soon as the store was fairly under way, Lincoln began 
to look about for books. Since leaving Indiana in March, 
1830, he had had in his drifting life, little leisure or op- 
portunity for study, though a great deal for observation 
of men and of life. His experience had made him realize 
more and more clearly that powe.' over men depends 
upon knowledge. He had found that he was himself supe- 
rior to many of those who were called the "great" men of 
the country. Soon after entering Macon county, in March, 
1830, when he was only twenty-one years old, he had found 
he could make a better speech than at least one man who was 
before the public. A candidate had come along where he and 
John Hanks were at work, and, as John Hanks tells the story, 
the man made a speech. "It was a bad one, and I said Abe 
could heat it. I turned down a box, and Abe made his speech. 
The other man was a candidate, Abe wasn't. Abe beat him 
(5) 



66 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

to death, his subject being the navigation of the Sangamon 
river. The man, after Abe's speech was through, took him 
aside and asked him where he had learned so much, and how 
he could do so well. Abe replied, stating his manner and 
method of reading, what he had read. The man encouraged 
him to persevere." 

He studied men carefully, comparing himself with them. 
Could he do what they did ? He seems never up to this time 
to have met one who was incomprehensible to him. 'T have 
talked with great men," he told his fellow-clerk and friend 
(Irecne, "and I do not see how they differ from others." 
Then he found, too, that people listened to him, that they 
quoted his opinions, and that his friends were already say- 
ing that he was able to fill any position. Offutt even de- 
clared the country over that "Abe" knew more than any 
man in the United States, and that some day he would be 
Ph'csidei 



•t- 
ii.. 



When he began to realize that he himself possessed the 
qualities which made men great in Illinois, that success de- 
pended upon knowledge and that already his friends cred- 
ited him with possessing more than most members of 
the community, his ambition was encouraged and his desire 
to learn increased. Why should he not try for a public posi- 
tion ? He began to talk to his friends of his ambition and to 
devise plans for self-improvement. In order to keep in prac- 
tice in si)eaking he walked seven or eight miles to debating 
clubs. "Practicing polemics," was what he called the exer- 
cise. He seems now for the first time to have begun to study 
subjects. Grammar was what he chose. He sought Mentor 
Graham, the schoolmaster, and asked his advice. "If you are 
going before the public," Mr. Graham told him, "you ought 
to do it." But where could he get a grammar? There was but 
one, said Mr. Graham, in the neighborhood, and that was six 
miles away. Without waiting for further information, the 



FIRST APPEARANCE IN POLITICS ^^ 

young man rose from the breakfast-table, walked immedi- 
ately to the place and Ijorrowed this rare copy of Kirkham's 
Grammar. From that time on for weeks he gave every mo- 
ment of his leisure to mastering the contents of the book. 
Frequently he asked his friend Greene to "hold the book" 
while he recited, and, when puzzled by a point, he would 
consult Mr. Graham. 

Lincoln's eagerness to learn was such that the whole 
neighborhood became interested. The Greenes lent him 
books, the schoolmaster kept him in mind and helped him as 
he could, and the village cooper let him come into his shop 
and keep up a fire of shavings sufficiently bright to read by at 
night. It was not long before the grammar was mastered. 
"Well," Lincoln said to his fellow-clerk, Greene, "if that's 
what they call a science, I think I'll go at another." 

Before the winter was ended he had become the most popu- 
lar man in New Salem. Although he was but twenty-two 
years of age, in February, 1832, had never been at school an 
entire year in his life, had never made a speech except in de- 
bating clubs and by the roadside, had read only the books he 
could pick up, and known only the men who made up tiic 
poor, out-of-the-way towns in which he had lived, "encour- 
aged by his great popularity among his immediate neigh- 
l)ors," as he says himself, he decided to announce himself, in 
March, 1832, as a candidate for the General Assembly of the 
State. 

The only preliminary expected of a candidate for the leg- 
islature of Illinois at that date was an announcement stating 
his "sentiments witli regard to l(^cal affairs." The circular in 
which Lincoln complied with this custom was a document of 
about two thousand words, in \»liich he phmged at once into 
the subject he believed most interesting- to his constituents — 
"the public utility of internal improvements." 

At that time the State of Illinois — as, indeed, the whole 



6S LIFE OF LINCOLN 

United States — was convinced that the future of the country 
depended on the opening of canals and railroads, and the 
clearing out of the rivers. In the Sangamon country the 
population felt that a quick way of getting to Beardstown on 
the Illinois river, to which point the steamer came from the 
Mississippi, was, as Lincoln puts it in his circular, "indis- 
pensably necessary." Of course a railroad was the dream of 
the settlers ; but when it was considered seriously there was 
always, as Lincoln says, "a heart-appalling shock accom- 
panying the amount of its cost, which forces us to shrink 
from our pleasing anticipations. The probable cost of this 
contemplated railroad is estimated at two hundred and 
ninety thousand dollars ; the bare statement of which, in my 
opinion, is sufficient to justify the belief that the improve- 
ment of the Sangamon river is an object much better suited 
to our infant resources. 

"Respecting this view, I think I may say, without the fear 
of being contradicted, that its navigation may be rendered 
completely practicable as high as the mouth of the South 
Fork, or probably higher, to vessels of from twenty-five to 
thirty tons burden, for at least one-half of all common years, 
and to vessels of much greater burden a part of the time. 
From my peculiar circumstances, it is probable that for the 
last twelve months I have given as particular attention to the 
stage of the water in this river as any other person in the 
country. In the month of March, 183 1, in company with 
others, I commenced the building of a flatboat on the Sanga- 
mon, and finished and t(X)k her out in the course of the 
spring. Since that time T have been concerned in the mill at 
New Salem. These circumstances are sufficient evidence that 
I have not been very inattentive. to the stages of the water. 
The time at which we crossed the mill-dam being in the last 
days of A])ril, the water was lower than it had been since the 
breaking of winter in February, or than it was for several 
weeks after. The principal difficulties we encountered in de- 
scending the river were from the drifted timber, which ob- 
structions all know are not difficult to be removed. Knowing 



FIRST APPEARANCE IN POLITICS 69 

almost precisely the height of water at that time, I beheve I 
am safe in saying that it has as often been higher as lower 
since. 

"From this view of the subject it appears that my calcula- 
tions with regard to the navigation of the Sangamon cannot 
but be founded in reason ; but, whatever may be its natural 
advantages, certain it is that it never can be practically useful 
to any great extent without being greatly improved by art. 
The drifted timber, as I have before mentioned, is the most 
formidable barrier to this object. Of all parts of this river, 
none will require so much labor in proportion to make it 
navigable as the last thirty or thirty-five miles; and going 
with the meanderings of the channel, when we are this dis- 
tance above its mouth we are only between tw^elve and 
eighteen miles above Beardstown in something near a 
straight direction ; and this route is upon such low ground as 
to retain water in many places during the season, and in all 
parts such as to draw two-thirds or three-fourths of the river 
water at all high stages. 

"This route is on prairie land the whole distance, so that 
it appears to me, by removing the turf a sufficient width, and 
damming up the old channel, the v^hole river in a short time 
would wash its way through, thereby curtailing the distance 
and increasing the velocity of the current very considerably, 
while there would be no timber on the banks to obstruct its 
navigation in future; and being nearly straight, the tim- 
ber which might float in at the head would be apt to go clear 
through. There are also mani' places above this where the 
river, in its zigzag course, forms such complete peninsulas as 
to be easier to cut at the necks than to remove the obstruc- 
tions from the bends, which, if done, would also lessen the 
distance. 

"What the cost of this work would be, I am unable to say. 
It is probable, however, that it would not be greater than is 
common to streams of the same length. Finally, I believe 
the improvement of the Sangamon river to be vastly impor- 
tant and highly desirable to the people of the county ; and. if 
elected, any measure in the legislature having this for its ob- 
ject, which may appear judicious, will meet my -approtation 
and receive my supnort." 



70 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Lincoln could not have adopted a measure more popular. 
At that moment the whole population of Sangamon was in a 
state of wild expectation. Some six weeks before Lin- 
coln's circular appeared, a citizen ui Springfield had adver- 
tised that as soon as the ice went off the river he would bring 
up a steamer, the "Talisman," from Cincinnati, and prove the 
Sangamon navigable. The announcement had aroused the 
entire country, speeches were made, and subscriptions taken. 
The merchants announced goods direct per steamship "Talis- 
man," the country over, and every village from Beardstown 
to Springfield was laid off in town lots. When the circular 
appeared the excitement was at its height. 

Lincoln's comments in his circular on two other subjects, 
on which all candidates of the day expressed themselves, are 
amusing in their simplicity. The practice of loaning money 
at exorbitant rates was then a great evil in the West. Lin- 
coln proposed that the limits of usury be fixed, and he closed 
his paragraph on the subject with these words, which sound 
strange enough from a man who in later life showed so pro- 
found a reverence for law : 

"In cases of extreme necessity, there could always be 
means found to cheat the law ; while in all other cases it 
would have its intended eft'eci:. I would favor the passage of 
a law on this subject wh.i^li might not be very easily evaded. 
Let it be such that the labor and difficulty of evading it could 
only be justified in cases of greatest necessity." 

A general revision of the laws of the State was the second 
topic which he felt required a word. "Considering the great 
probability," he said, "that the framers of those laws were 
wiser than myself, I should prefer not meddling with them, 
unless they were first attacked by others ; in which case I 
should feel it both a privilege and a duty to take that stand 
Vihich, in my view, might tend most to the advancement of 
justice." 

Of course he said a word for educationi 



FIRST APPEARANCE IN POLITICS 71 

"Upon the subject of erlucation, not presuming to dictate 
any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it 
as the most important subject which we as a people can be 
engaged in. That every man may receive at least a moderate 
education, and thereby be enabled to read the histories of his 
own and other countries, by which he may duly appreciate 
the value of our free institutions, ajjpears to be an object of 
vital importance, even on this account alone, to say nothing 
of the advantages and satisfaction to be derived from all 
being able to read the Scriptures, and other works both of a 
religious and moral nature, for themselves. 

"For my part, I desire to see the time when education — • 
and by its means, morality, sobriety, enteri)rise, and industry 
— shall become much more general than at present, and 
should be gratified to have it in my power to contribute some- 
thing to the advancement of any measure which might have 
a tendency to accelerate that happy period." 

The audacity of a young man in his position presenting 
himself as a candidate for the legislature is fully equaled by 
the humility of the closing paragraphs of his announcement : 

"But, fellow-citizens, I shall conclude. Considering the 
great degree of modesty which should always attend youth, 
it is probable I have already been more presuming than 
becomes me. However, upon the su]:)jects of which I have 
treated, I have spoken as I have thought. I may l)e wrong in 
regard to any or all of them ; but, holding it a sound maxim 
that it is better only sometimes to be right than at all times 
to be wrong, so soon as I discover my opinions to be errone- 
ous, I shall be ready to renounce them. 

"Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether 
it be true or not, 1 can say, for one, that I have no other so 
great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow-men, by 
rendering myself worthy of their esteem. How far I shall 
succeed in gratifying this ambition is yet to be developed. I 
am young, and unknown to many of you. I was born, and 
have ever remained, in the most humble walks of life. I have 
no wealthy or popular relations or friends to recommend me. 
My case is thrown exclusively upon the independent voters of 
the county; and, if elected, they will have conferred a favor 



72 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

upon ine for which I shall be unremitting in my labors to 
compensate. But, if the good people in their wisdom shall see 
fit to keep me in the background, J have been too familiar 
with disappointments to be very much chagrined." 

Very soon after Lincoln had distributed his hand-bills, en- 
thusiasm on the subject of the opening of the Sangamon rose 
to a fever. The "Talisman" actually came up the river; 
scores of men went to Beardstown to meet her, among them 
Lincoln, of course, and to him was given the honor of pilot- 
ing her — an honor which made him remembered by many a 
man who saw him that day for the first time. The trip was 
made with all the wild demonstrations which always attended 
the first steamboat. On either bank a long procession of men 
and boys on foot or horse accompanied the boat. Cannons 
and volleys of musketry were fired from every settlement 
passed. At every stop speeches were made, congratulations 
offered, toasts drunk, fiowers presented. It was one long hur- 
rah from Beardstown to Springfield, and foremost in the ju- 
bilation was Lincoln, the pilot. The "Talisman" went to the 
point on the river nearest to Springfield, and there tied up for 
a week. When she went back Lincoln again had the conspicu- 
ous position of pilot. The notoriety this gave him was prob- 
ably (|uite as valuable politically, as the forty dollars he 
received for his service was financially. 

While the country had been dreaming of w'ealth through 
the opening of the Sangamon, and Lincoln had been doing 
his best to prove that the dream would be realized, the store 
in wdiich he clerked was "petering out" — to use his expres- 
sion. The owner, Denton Oftutt, had proved more ambitious 
than wise, and Lincoln saw that an early closing by the 
sheriff was probal)le. But before the store was fairly closed, 
and while the "Talisman" was yet exciting the country, an 
event occurred which interrupted all of Lincoln's plans. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE BLACK HAWK WAR LINCOLN CHOSEN CAPTAIN OF A 

COMPANY REENLISTS AS AN INDEPENDENT RANGER 

END OF THE WAR 

One morning in April a messenger from the governor of 
the State rode into New Salem, scattering circulars. The 
circular was addressed to the militia of the northwest sec- 
tion of the State, and announced that the British band of 
Sacs and other hostile Indians, headed by Black Hawk, had 
invaded the Rock River country, to the great terror of the 
frontier inhabitants ; and it called upon the citizens who were 
willing to aid in repelling them, to rendezvous at Beardstown 
within a week. 

The name of Black Hawk was familiar to the people of 
Illinois. He was an old enemy of the settlers, and had been 
a tried friend of the British. The land his people had once 
owned in the northwest of the present State of Illinois had 
been sold in 1804 to the government of the Un.ited States, but 
v;ith the provision that the Indians could hunt and raise 
corn there until it was surveyed and sold to settlers. Long 
before the land was surveyed, however, squatters had invaded 
the countrv. and tried to force the Indians west of the Miss- 
issippi. Particularly envious were these whites of the lands 
at the mouth of the Rock river, where the ancient village and 
burial place of the Sacs stood, and where they came each year 
to raise corn. Black Hawk had resisted their encroachments, 
and many violent acts had been committed on both sides. 

Finally, however, the squatters, in spite of the fact that the 
line of settlement was still fifty miles away, succeeded in 

1^ 



74 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

evading the real meaning of the treaty and in securing a sur- 
vey of the desired land at the mouth of the river. Black 
Hawk, exasperated and broken-hearted at seeing his village 
violated, persuaded himself that the village had never been 
sold — indeed, that land could not be sold. 

"My reason teaches me," he wrote, "that land cannot be 
sold. The Great Spirit gave it to his children to live upon, 
and cultivate, as far as is necessary, for their subsistence; 
and so long as they occupy and cultivate it they have the right 
to the soil, but if they voluntarily leave it, then any other peo- 
ple have a right to settle upon it. Nothing can be sold but 
such things as can be carried away." 

Supported by this theory, conscious that in some way he 
did not understand he had been wronged, and urged on by 
White Cloud, the prophet, who ruled a Winnebago village on 
the Rock river. Black Hawk crossed the Mississippi in 1831, 
determined to evict the settlers. A military demonstration 
drove him back, and he was persuaded to sign a treaty never 
to return east of the Mississippi. "I touched the goose-quill 
to the treaty and was determined to live in peace," he wrote 
afterwards; but hardly had he "touched the goose-quill" be- 
fore his heart smote him. Longing for his home, resentment 
at the whites, obstinacy, brooding over the bad counsels of 
White Cloud and his disciple, Neapope — an agitating Indian 
who had recently been east to visit the British and their In 
dian allies, and who assured Black Hawk that the Winneba- 
goes, Ottawas, Chippewas, and Pottawottomies would join 
him in a struggle for his land, and that the British would 
send him guns, ammunition, provisions, and clothing earl> 
in the spring- — all persuaded the Hawk that he would be suc- 
cessful if he made an effort to drive out the whites. In spite 
of the advice of many of his friends and of the Indian agent 
in the country, he crossed the river on April 6, 1832, and with 



THE BLACK HAWK WAR 75 

some five hundred braves, his s([uaws and children, marched 
to the Prophet's town, thirty-five miles up the Rock river. 

As soon as they heard of Black Hawk's invasion, the set- 
tlers of the ncn-thwestern part of the State lied in a panic to 
tlje forts; and from there rained petitions for protection on 
Governor Reynolds. General Atkinson, who was at Fort 
Armstrong, wu-ote to the governor for reinforcements; and, 
accordingly on the i6th of April Governor Reynolds sent out 
"influential messengers" with a sonorous summons. It was 
one of these messengers riding into New Salem who put an 
end to Lincoln's canvassing for the legislature, freed him 
from Offutt's expiring grocery, and led him to enlist. 

There was no time to waste. The volunteers were ordered 
to be at Beardstown, nearly forty miles from New Salem, on 
April 22(1. Horses, rifles, saddles, blankets w^ere to be se- 
cured, a company formed. It was work of which the settlers 
were not ignorant. Under the laws of the State every able- 
bodied male inhabitant between eighteen and forty-five was 
obliged to drill twice a year or pay a fine of one dollar. "As a 
dollar was hard to raise," says one of the old settlers, "every- 
body drilled." 

r*reparations were quickly made, and by April 22d the men 
were at Beardstown. The day before, at Richland, Sanga- 
mon County, Lincoln was elected captain of the company 
from Sangamon. 

According to his friend Greene it was something beside 
ambition which led hiiu to seek the captaincy. One of the 
"odd jobs" which Lincoln had taken since coming 
into Illinois was working in a saw-mill for a man 
named Kirkpatrick. In hiring Lincoln, Kirkpatrick 
had promised to buy him a cant-hook with which 
to move hea\T logs. Lincoln had proposed, if Kirk- 
patrick would give him the two dollars which the cant- 
h(^ok would cost, to move the logs with a common hand- 



76 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

spike. . This the proprietor had agreed to, but when pay-day 
came he refused to keep his word. When the Sangamon com- 
pany of volunteers was formed Kirkpatrick aspired to the 
captaincy, and Lincoln knowing it, said to Greene: "Bill, I 
believe I can make Kirkpatrick pay me that two dollars he 
owes me on the cant-hook. I'll run against him for captain." 
And he became a candidate. The vote was taken in a field, by 
directing the men at the command "march" to assemble 
around the one they wanted for captain. When the order was 
given, three-fourths of the men gathered around Lincoln. In 
Lincoln's third-person autobiography he says he was elected 
"to his own surprise;" and adds, "He says he has not since 
had any success in life which gave him so much satisfaction." 

The company was a motley crowd of men. Each had se- 
cured for his outfit what he could get, and no two were 
equipped alike. Buckskin breeches prevailed, and there 
was a sprinkling of coon-skin caps. Each man had a 
blanket of the coarsest texture. Flint-lock rifles were the 
usual arm, though here and there a man had a Cramer. Over 
the shoulder of each was slung a powder-horn. The men had, 
as a rule, as little regard for discipline as for appearances, 
and when the new captain gave an order were as likely to jeer 
at it as to obey it. To drive the Indians out was their mission, 
and any order which did not bear directly on that point was 
little respected. Lincoln himself was not familiar with mili- 
tary tactics, and made many blunders of which he used to tell 
afterwards with relish. One of these was an early experience 
in giving orders. He was marching with a front of over 
twenty men across a field, when he desired to pass through 
a gateway into the next inclosure. 

"I could not for the life of me," said he, "remember the 
proper word of command for getting my company endwise, 
so that it could get through the gate; so, as we came near I 



THE BLACK HAWK WAR 77 

shouted : 'This company is dismissed for two minutes, when 
it will fall in again on the other side of the gate!" 

Nor was it only his ignorance of the manual which caused 
him trouble. He was so unfamiliar with camp discipline that 
he once had his sword taken from him for shooting within 
limits. Another disgrace he suffered was on account of his 
disorderly company. The men, unknown to him, stole a quan- 
tity of liquor one night, and the next morning were t<jo drunk 
to fall in when the order was given to march. For their law- 
lessness Lincoln wore a wooden sword two days. 

But none of these small difficulties injured his standing; 
with the company. They soon grew so proud of his cjuick 
wit and great strength that they obeyed him because they 
admired him. No amount of military tactics could have se- 
cured from the volunteers the cheerful following he won Ijy 
his personal qualities. 

The men .soon learned, too, that he meant what he said, 
and would permit no dishonorable performances. .^ helpless 
Indian took refuge in the camp one day; and the men, who 
were inspired by that wanton mixture of selfishness, un- 
reason, and cruelty wliich seems to seize a frontiersman as 
soon as he scents a red man — were determined to kill the 
refugee. He had a safe conduct from General Cass ; but the 
men, having come out to kill Indians and not having suc- 
ceeded, threatened to take revenge 011 the helpless savage. 
Lincoln boldly took the man's part, and though he risked his 
life in doing it, he cowed the company and saved the Indian. 

It was on the 27th of April that the force of sixteen hun- 
dred men organized at Beardstown started out. The day 
was cold, the roads hea\ \ , the slrcams turbulent. The army 
marched first to Yellow Banks on the Mississi])pi, then t(7 
Dixon on the Rock river, which they reached on May 12. 
At Dixon they camped, and near here occurred the first 
bloodshed of the war. 



78 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

A body of about three hundred and forty rangers, undei 
Major Stilhnan, but not of the regular army, asked to go 
ahead as scouts, to look for a body of Indians under Black 
Hawk, rumored to be about twelve miles away. The 
permission was given, and on the niglu of the I4tlj 
of ]\Iay, Stilhnan and his men went into camp. Black 
Hawk heard of their presence. By this time the poor 
old chief had discovered that the promises of aid 
from the Indian tribes and the British were false, and 
dismayed, he had resolved to recross the Mississippi. 
When he heard the whites were near he sent three braves 
with a white flag to ask for a parley and permission to de- 
scend the river. Behind them he sent five men to watch 
proceedings. Stillman's rangers were in camp when the 
bearers of the flag of truce appeared. The men were many 
of them half drunk, and when they saw the Indicin truce- 
bearers, they rushed out in a wild mob, and ran them into 
camp. Then catching sight of the five spies, they 
started after them, killing two. The three who 
reached Black Hawk reported that the truce-bearers 
had been killed as well as their two companions. 
Furious at this violation of faith, Black Hawk 
"raised a yell," and sallied forth with forty braves to meet 
Stillman's band, who by this time were out in search of the 
Indians. Black Hawk, too maddened to think of the dif- 
ference of numbers, attacked tlie whites. To his surprise 
the enemy turned, and fled in a wild riot. Nor did they stop 
at the cami). which from its position was almost impreg- 
nable; they fled in complete panic, sauzr qui pent, through 
their camp, across prairie and rivers and swamps, to Dixon, 
twelve miles away. The first arrixal reported that two thou- 
sand savages had swept down on Stillman's camp and 
slaughtered all but himself. Before the next night all but 
eleven of the band had arrived. 



THE BLACK HAWK WAR 79 

Stillman's Defeat, as this disgrace ful affair is called, put all 
notion of jjcace out of lllack Hawk's mind, and lie started 
out in earnest on the warpath. Governor Reynolds, excited 
by the reports of the hrst arrivals froni the Stilhnan stam- 
pede, made out that night, "by candle light," a call for more 
volunteers, and by the morning of the 15th had messengers 
out and his army in pursuit of Black Hawk. But it was like 
pursuing a shadow. The Indians purposely confused their 
trail. Sometimes it was a broad path, then it suddenly radi- 
ated to all points. The whites broke their bands, and pur- 
sued the savages here and there, never overtaking them, 
though now and then coming suddenly on some terrible evi- 
dences of their presence — a frontier home deserted and 
burned, slaughtered cattle, scalps suspended where the army 
could not fail to see them. 

This fruitless warfare exasperated the volunteers; they 
threatened to leave, and their officers had great difficulty in 
making them obey orders. On reaching a point in the Rock 
river, beyond which lay the Indian country, a company 
under Colonel Zachary Taylor refused to cross, and held a 
public indignation meeting, urging that they had volunteered 
to defend the State, and had the right, as independent Ameri- 
can citizens, to refuse to go out of its borders. Taylor hearu 
them to the end, and then spoke: "I feel that all gentlemen 
here are my equals; in reality, I am persuaded that many of 
them will, in a few years, be my superiors, and perhaps, in 
the capacity of members of Congress, arbiters of the fortunes 
and reputation of humble servants of the republic, 
like myself. I expect then to obey them as interpreters 
of the will of the people; and the best proof that I 
will obey them is now to observe the orders of those whom 
the people have already put in the place of authority to which 
many gentlemen around me justly aspire. In plain English, 
gentlemen and fellow-citizens, the word has been passed on 



8o LIFE OF LINCOLN 

to me from Washington to follow Black Hawk and to take 
you with me as soldiers. I mean to do both. There are 
the flatboats drawn ud on the shore, and here are Uncle 

A. ' 

Sam's men drawn up behind you on the prairie." The volun- 
teers knew true grit when they met it. They dissolved their 
meeting and crossed the river without Uncle Sam's men 
being called into action. 

The march in pursuit of the Indians led the army to 
Ottawa, where the volunteers became so dissatisfied that on 
May 27 and 28 Governor Reynolds mustered them out. 
But a force in the field was essential until a new levy was 
raised; and a few of the men were patriotic enough to offer 
their services, among them Lincoln, who on May 29 was 
mustered in at the mouth of the Fox river by a man in whom, 
thirty years later, he was to have a keen interest — General 
Robert Anderson, commander at Fort Sumter in 1861. Lin- 
coln became a private in Captain Elijah Iles's company of 
Independent Rangers, not brigaded — a company made up, 
says Captain lies in his ''Footsteps and Wanderings," of 
"generals, colonels, captains, and distinguished men from 
tlie disbanded army." General Anderson says that at this 
muster Lincoln's arms were valued at forty dollars, his horse 
and equipment at one hundred and twenty dollars. The In- 
dependent Rangers were a favored body, used to carry mes- 
sages and to spy on the enemy. They had no camp duties, 
and "drew rations as often as they pleased." So that as a 
private Lincoln was really better off than as a captain.* 

The achievements and tribulations of this body of rangers 



*William Cullen Bryant, who was in Illinois in 1832 at the time of 
the Black Hawk War, iiscd to tell of meeting in his travels \n the State a 
company of Illinois volunteers, commanded by a "raw youth" of "quaint 
and pleasant" speech, and of learning afterwards that this captain was 
Abraham Lincoln. As Lincoln's captaincy ended on May 27th, and Mr. 
Bryant did not reach Illinois until June 12th, and as he never came 
nearer than fifty miles to the Rapids of the Illinois, where the body of 
rangers to which Lincoln belonged was encamped it is evident that the 



THE BLACK HAWK WAR 8 1 

to which he belonged are told with interesting detail by its 
commanding officer, Captain lies, in his "Footsteps and 
Wanderings." 

While the other companies were ordered to scout the 
country, he writes, mine was held by General Atkin- 
son in camp as a reserve. One company was ordered to go 
to Rock River (now Dixon) and report to Colonel Taylor 
(afterwards President) who had been left there with a few 
United States soldiers to guard the army supplies. The 
place was also made a point of rendezvous. Just as the com- 
pany got to Dixon, a man came in, and reported that he and 
six others were on the road to Galena, and. in passing 
through a point of timber about twenty miles north of Dixon, 
they were fired on and six killed, he being the only one to 
make his escape. . . . Colonel Taylor ordered the com- 
pany to proceed to the place, bury the dead, go on to Galena, 
and get all the information they could about the Indians. 
But the company took fright, and came back to the Illinois 
river, helter-skelter. 

General Atkinson then called on me, and wanted to know 
how I felt about taking the trip ; that he was exceedingly 
anxious to open communication with Galena, and to find out, 
if possible, the whereabouts of the Indians before the new 
troops arrived. I answered the general that myself and men 
were getting rusty, and were anxious to have something to 
do, and that nothing would please us better than to be or- 
dered out on an expedition ; that I would find out how many 
of my men had good horses and were otherwise well equip- 
ped, and what time we wanted to prepare for the trip. I 
called on him again at sunset, and reported that I had about 
fifty men well equipped and eager, and that we wanted one 
day to make preparations. He said go ahead, and he would 
prepare our orders. 

The next day was a busy one, running bullets and get- 
ting our flint-locks in order — we had no percussion locks 
then. General Henry, one of my privates, who had been 
promoted to the position of major of one of the companies, 

"raw youth" cnnld not have been Lincoln, much as one would like to 
believe that it was. 

(6) 



82 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

volunteered to go with ns, I considered him a host, as he 
had served as Heutenant in the War of 1812, under General 
Scott, and was in the battle of Lundy's Lane, and several 
other battles. He was a good drill officer, and could aid mc 
much. , . . After General Atkinson handed me my or- 
ders, and my men were mounted and ready for the trip, I 
felt jiroud of them, and was confident of our success, al- 
though numbering only forty-eight. Several good men 
failed to go, as they had gone down to the foot of the Illinois 
rapids, to aid in bringing up the boats of army supplies. We 
wanted to be as little encumbered as possible, and took noth- 
ing that could be dispensed with, other than blankets, tin 
cups, coffee-pots, canteens, a wallet of bread, and some fat 
side meat, which we ate raw or broiled. 

When we arrived at Rock River, we found Colonel Ta}- 
lor on the opposite side, in a little fort built of prairie sod. 
He sent an officer in a canoe to bring me over. I said to the 
officer that I would come over as soon as I got my men in 
camp. I knew of a good spring half a mile- above, and I de- 
termined to camp at it. After the men were in camp I called 
on General Henry, and he accompanied me. On nieeting 
Colonel Taylor (he looked like a man born to command) he 
seemed a little piqued that I did not come <^\•ev and camp with 
him. I told him we felt just as safe as if quartered in his one- 
horse fort , besides, I knew what his orders would be, and 
wanted to try the mettle of my men before starting on the 
perilous trip I knew he would order. He said the trip was 
perilous, and that since the murder of the six men all com- 
munications with Galena had been cut off, and it might be 
besieged ; that he wanted me to proceed to Galena, and that 
he \\ould have my orders for me in the morning, and asked 
what outfit I wanted. I answered "Nothing but coffee, side 
meat and bread." 

In the morning my orders were to collect and bury the re- 
mains of the six men murdered, proceed to Galena, make a 
careful search for the signs of Indians, and find out whether 
they were aiming to escape by crossing the river behnv Gal- 
ena, and get all information at Galena of their possible 
wh.ereabouts before tlie new troops were ready to follow 
.hem, 



THE BLACK HAWK WAR 83 

John Dixon, who kept a house of entertainment here, 
and had sent his family to Galena for safety, joined ns, and 
hauled our wallets of corn and grub in his wagon, which was 
a great help. Lieutenant Harris, U. S. A., also joined us. 
I now had lifty men to go with me on the march. I detailed 
two to march on the right, two on the left, and two in ad- 
vance, to act as look-outs to prevent a surprise. They w'ere 
to keep in full view of us, and to remain out until we camped 
for the night. Just at sundown of the first day, while w^e 
were at lunch, our advance scouts came in under whip and 
reported Indians. Wt bounced to our feet, and, having a 
full view of the road for a long distance, could see a large 
body coming toward us. All eyes were turned to John 
Dixon, who, as the last one dropped out of sight coming over 
a ridge, pronounced them Indians. I stationed my men in a 
ravine crossing the road, where anyone approaching' could 
not see us until within thirty yards ; the horses I had driven 
back out of sight in a valley. I asked General Henry to take 
command. He said, "No; stand at your post," and walked 
along the hue, talking to the men in a low, calm voice. Lieu- 
tenant Harris, U. S. A., seemed much agitated ; he ran up 
and down the line, and exclaimed, "Captain, we will catcii 
hell!" He had horse-pistols, belt-pistols, and a double-bar- 
reled gun. He would pick the flints, reprime, and lay the 
horse-pistols at his feet. When he got all ready he passed 
'along the line slowly, and seeing the nerves of the men all 
quiet — after General Henry's talk to them — said, "Captain, 
we are safe; we can whip hve hundred Indians." Instead of 
Indians, they proved to be the command of General Dodge, 
from Galena, of one hundred and fifty men, en route, to find 
out what had become of General Atkinson's army, as, since 
the murder of the six men, communication had been stopped 
for more than ten days. My look-out at the top of the hill 
did not notify us, and we were not undeceived until they got 
within thirty steps of us. My men then raised a yell and 
ran to finish their lunch. 

When we got within fifteen miles of Galena, on A])ple 
Creek, we found a stockatle filled with women and children 
and a few men, all terribly frightened. The Indians had 
shot at and chased two men that afternoon, who made their 



54 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

escape to the stockade. They nisisted on our quartenng in 
the fort, but instead we camped one hundred yards outside, 
and slept — what Httle sleep we did get — with our guns on our 
arms. General Henry did not sleep, but drilled my men all 
night ; so the moment they were called they would bounce to 
their feet and stand in two lines, the front ready to fire, and 
fall back to reload, while the others stepped forward to take 
their places. They were called up a number of times, and we 
got but little sleep. We arrived at Galena the next day, and 
found the citizens prepared to defend the place. They were 
glad to see us, as it had been so long since they had heard 
from General yVtkinson and his army. The few Indians 
prowling about Galena and murdering were simply there as 
a ruse. 

On our return from Galena, near the forks of the Apple 
River and Gratiot roads, we could see General Dodge on the 
Gratiot road, on his return from Rock River. His six scouts 
had discovered my two men that I had allowed to drop in the 
rear — two men who had been in Stillman's defeat, and, hav- 
ing weak horses, were allowed to fall behind. Having weak 
horses they had fallen in the rear about two miles, and each 
took the other to be Indians, and such an exciting race I 
never saw, until they got sight of my company ; then they 
came to a sudden halt, and after looking at us a few mo- 
ments, wheeled their horses and gave up the chase. My two 
men did not know but that they were Indians until they 
came up with us and shouted 'Tndians !" They had thrown 
away their wallets and guns, and used their ramrods as 
whips. 

The few houses on the road that usually accommodated 
the travel were all standing, but vacant, as we went. On 
our return we found them burned by the Indians. On my 
return to the Illinois River I reported to General Atkinson, 
saying that, from all we could learn, the Indians were aim- 
ing to escape by going north, with the intention of crossing 
the Mississippi river above Galena. The new troops had 
just arrived and were being mustered into service. My 
company had only been organized for twenty days, and 
as the time had now expired, the men were mustered out. 
All but myself again volunteered for the third time. 




Data does not exist for 
determining positively 
the route Lincoln followed , 

in the Black Hawk War. ^ 
Only the general direction of 
the marolies of his company 
are indicated here. In gtdnfr 
from Ottawa to Galena and back 
Captain Ile.'< may have very well 
marched his company through 
Dixon's Ferry. In returning from 
Whitewater to New Salem, Lincoln 
may have followed the river to Dixon 
There were undoubtedly several .side 
marches such as that on June 25, from 
Dixon to Kellogg's Grove and back, 
which are not shown In this map. 



'■ip ui. 



POATES, CNSB., N V. 



Longitude 



MAP CF 
ILLINOIS 

AND PART OF 
MICHIGAN TERRITORT 
SHOWING 
INCOLN'S SUPPOSED LINE OF 
MARCH IN BLACK HAWK WAR. 

SCALE OF MILES 

10 20 30 40 60 CO 
Greenwich g7 



86 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

It was the middle of June when Captain Ties and his com- 
pany returned to Dixon's Ferry from their Indian hunt and 
were mustered out. On June 20 Lincoln was mustered in 
again, hy i\Iajor Anderson, as a member of an independent 
company under Captain Jacob M. Early. His arms were 
valued this time at only fifteen dollars, his horse and equip- 
ments at eighty-five dollars. 

A week after re-enlistment Lincoln's company moved 
northward with the army. It was time they moved, for 
Black Hawk was overrunning the country, and scattering 
death wherever he went. The settlers were wild with fear, 
and most of the settlements were abandoned. At a sudden 
sound, at the merest rumor, men, women, and children fled. 
"I well remember these troublesome times," writes one 
Illinois woman. ''We often left our bread dough unbaked 
to rush to the Indian fort near by." When Mr. John Bry- 
ant, a brother of William Cullen Bryant, visited the colony 
in Princeton in 1832, he found it nearly broken up on account 
of the war. Everywhere crops were neglected, for the able- 
bodied men were volunteering. William Cullen Bryant, 
who, in June, 1834, traveled on horseback from Peters- 
burg to near Pekin and back, wrote home : " Every few 
miles on our way we fell in with bodies of Illinois militia pro- 
ceeding to the American camp, or saw where tliey had en- 
camped for the night. They generally stationed themselves 
near a stream or a spring in the (:L]gQ of a wood, and turned 
their horses to graze on the prairie. Their ^^"ay was barked 
or girdled, and the roads through the uninhabited country 
were as much beaten and as dusty as the highways on New 
York island. Some of the settlers complained that they 
made war upon the pigs and chickens. They were a hard- 
looking set of men. unkempt and unshaved, wearing shirts of 
dark calico and sometimes calico capotes." 

Soon after the army moved up tb^ Rock river, the inde- 



THE BLACK HAWK WAR S7 

pendent spy company, of which Lincohi was a member, was 
sent with a brigade to the northwest, near Galena, in pnrsnit 
of the Hawk. The nearest Lincohi came to an actual 
engagement in the war was here. The skirmish of Kellogg's 
Grove took place on June 25 ; Lincoln's company came up 
soon after it was over, and helped bury the hve men killed. 
It was probably to this experience that he referred when he 
told a friend once of coming on a camp of white scouts one 
morning just as the sun was rising. The Lidians had sur- 
prised the camp, and had killed and scalped every man. 

"I remember just how those men looked." said Lincoln, 
"as we rode up the little hill where theircamp was. The red 
light of the morning sun was streaming upon them as they 
lay heads towards us on the ground. And every man had a 
round red spot on the top of his head about as big as a dollar, 
where the redskins had taken his scalp. It was frightful, 
but it was grotesque ; and the red sunlight seemed to ]jaint 
everything all over." Lincoln paused, as if recalling the 
vivid picture, and added, somewhat irrelevantly, 'T remem- 
ber that one man had buckskin breeches on." 

Early's company, on returning from their expedition, 
joined the main army on its northward march. By the end 
of the month the troops crossed into Michigan Territory — 
as Wisconsin was then called — and July wa^i passed floun- 
dering' in swamps and stumbling through forests, in pursuit 
of the now nearly exhausted Black Hawk. No doul)t Early's 
company saw the hardest service on the march for to it was 
allotted the scouting. The farther the army advanced the 
more difficult was the situation. Finally the provisions gave 
out and July 10, three weeks before the last battle of the 
war, that of Bad Axe, in which the whites finally massacred 
most of the Indian band, Lincoln's company was disbanded 
at \\niitewater, Wisconsin, and he and his friends started 
for home. The volunteers in returnms' suffered much from 



W" 



88 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

hunger. More than one of them had nothing to eat on the 
journey except meal and water baked in rolls of bark laid 
by the fire. Lincoln not only went hungry on this return; 
he had to tramp most of the way. The night before his 
company started from Whitewater he and one of his mess- 
mates had their horses stolen; and, excepting when tlieir 
more fortunate companions gave them a lift, they walked as 
far as Peoria, Illinois, where they bought a canoe, and pad- 
dled down the Illinois river to Havana. Here they sold the 
canoe, and walked across the country to New Salem. 



CHAPTER VII 

LINCOLN RUNS FOR STATE ASSEMBLY AND IS DEFEATED — 
STOREKEEPER STUDENT POSTMASTER SURVEYOR 

On returning to New Salem Lincoln at once plunged 
into "electioneering." He ran as "an avowed Clay man," 
and the country was stiffly Democratic. However, in those 
days political contests were almost purely personal. If the 
candidate was liked he was voted for irrespective of prin- 
ciple. "The Democrats of New Salem worked for Lincoln 
out of their personal regard for him," said Stephen T. Lo- 
gan, a young lawyer of Springfield, who made Lincoln's ac- 
quaintance in the campaign. "He was as stiff as a man 
could be in his Whig doctrines. They did this for him sim- 
ply because he was popular — because he was Lincoln." 

It was the custom for the candidates to appear at every 
gathering which brought the people out, and, if they had a 
chance, to make speeches. Then, as now, the farmers gath- 
ered at the county-seat or at the largest town within their 
reach on Saturday afternoons, to dispose of produce, buy 
supplies, see their neighbors, and get the news. During 
"election times" candidates were always present, and a reg- 
ular feature of the day was listening to their speeches. They 
never missed public sales, it being expected that after the 
"vandoo" the candidates would take the auctioneer's place. 

Lincoln let none of these chances to be heard slip. Ac- 
companied by his friends, generally including' a few Clary's 
Grove Boys, he always was present. The first speech he 
madew^as after a sale at Pappsville. What he said there is not 
remembered; but an illustration of the kind of man he was, 

89 



90 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

interpolated into his discourse, made a lasting impression. 
A fight broke out in his audience while he was on the stand, 
and observing that one of his friends was being worsted, he 
bounded into the group of contestants, seized the fellow who 
had his supporter down, threw him, according to tradition, 
"ten or twelve feet" mounted the platform, and finished the 
speech. Sangamon County could appreciate such a perform- 
ance ; and the crowd at Pappsville that day never forgot Lin- 
coln. 

His visits to Springfield were ..f great importance to him. 
Springfield was not at that time a very attractive place. 
Bryant, visiting it in June, 1832, said that the houses were 
not as good as at Jacksonville, "a considerable proportion of 
them being log cabins, and the whole town having an appear- 
ance of dirt and discomfort." Nevertheless it was the largest 
town in the county, and among its inhabitants w^ere many 
yo-jng men of breeding, education, and energy. One of these 
men Lincoln had become well acquainted with in the Black 
Hawk War *— Major John T. Stuart, at that time a lawyer, 
dnd, like Lincoln, a candidate for the General Assembly. He 
met others at this time who were to be associated with him 



_*There were many prominent Americans in the Black Hawk War, 
with some of whom Lincoln became acquainted. Among the best known 
were General Robert Anderson ; Colonel Zachary Taylor ; General Scott, 
afterwards candidate for President, and Lieutenant-General ; Henry 
Dodge, Governor of the Territory of W'isconsin, and United States 
Senator; Hon. William D. Ewing and Hon. Sidney Breese, both United 
States Senators from Illinois; William S. Hamilton, a son of Alexander 
Hamilton ; Colonel Nathan Boone, son of Daniel Boone ; Lieutenant 
Albert Sidriev Johnston, afterwards a Confederate General ; also Jeffer- 
son Davis. President of the Southern Confederacy. Davis was at this 
time a lieutenant stationed at Fort Crawford. According to the muster 
rolls of his company he was absent on furlough from March 26 to 
Augu.st 18. 18.32, but, according to Davis's own statement, corroborated 
by many of the early settlers of Illinois who served in the Black Hawk 
War, Davis returned to duty as soon as he found there was to be a 
war. AVhen Black Plawk was finally captured in August, after the 
battle of Bad Axe, he was sent down the river to Jefferson Barracks, 
under the charge of Lieutenant Jefferson Davis. Black Hawk, in his 
"I-ife," speaks of Davis as a "good and brave young chief, with whose 
conduct I was much pleased." 



RUNS FOR STATE ASSEMBLY 91 

more or less closely in the future in both law and politics, 
among them Judge Logan and William Butler. With these 
men the manners which had won him the day at Pappsville 
were of little value; what impressed them was his "very sen- 
sible speech,"' and his decided individuality and originality. 
The election came off on August 6th. Lincoln was de- 
feated. "This was the only time Abraham was ever de- 
feated on a direct vote of the peo]:)Ie," says his autobiographi- 
cal notes. He had a consolation in his defeat, however, for 
in spite of the pronounced Democratic sentiments of his pre- 
cinct, he received, according to the official poll-book m the 
county clerk's office at Springfield, two hundred and twenty- 
seven votes out of three hundred cast. 

This defeat did not take him out of politics. Six weeks 
later he filled his first civil office, that of clerk of the Septem- 
ber election. The report in his hand still exists, his first offi- 
cial document. In the following years few elections were 
held in New Salem at which Lincoln did not act as clerk. 

The election over, Lincoln began to look for work. One 
of his friends, an admirer of his physical strength, advised 
him to become a blacksmith, but it was a trade which 
afforded little leisure for study, and for meeting and talking 
with men; and he had already resolved, it is evident, that 
books and men were essential to him. The only employ- 
ment in New Salem which offered both employment and the 
opportunities he sought, was clerking in a store. Now the 
stores in New Salem were in more need of customers than 
of clerks, business having been greatly overdone. In the 
fall of 1832 four stores offered wares to the one hundred in- 
habitants of New Salem. The most pretentious was that of 
Hill and McNeill, which carried a large line of dry goods. 
The three others, owned respectively by the Herndon broth- 
ers, Reuben Radford, and James Rutledge, were groceries. 

Failing to secure employment at any of these establish- 



92 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

ments, Lincoln resolved to buy a store. He was not long in 
finding an opportunity to purchase. James Herndon had 
already sold out his half interest in Herndon Brothers' store 
to William F. Berry; and Rowan Herndon, not getting 
along well with Berry, was only too glad to find a purchaser 
of his half in the person of "Abe" Lincoln. Berry was as 
poor as Lincoln; but that was not a serious obstacle, for 
their notes were accepted for the Herndon stock of goods. 
They had barely hung out their sign when something hap- 
pened which threw another store into their hands. Reuben 
Radford had made himself obnoxious to the Clary's Grove 
Boys, and one night they broke in his doors and windows, 
and overturned his counters and sugar barrels. It was too 
much for Radford, and he sold out next day to William G. 
Greene, for a four-hundred-dollar note signed by Greene. 
At the latter's request, Lincoln made an inventory of the 
stock, and offered him six hundred and fifty dollars for it — 
a proposition which was cheerfully accepted. Berry and 
Lincoln, being unable to pay cash, assumed the four-hun- 
dred-dollar note payable to Radford, and gave Greene their 
joint note for two hundred and fifty dollars. The little 
grocery owned by James Rutledge was the next to suc- 
cumb. Berry and Lincoln bought it at a bargain, their 
joint note taking the place of cash. The three stocks were 
consolidated. Their aggregate cost must have been not 
less than fifteen hundred dollars. Berry and Lincoln had 
secured a monopoly of the grocery business in New Salem. 
Within a few weeks two penniless men had become the pro- 
prietors of three stores, and had stopped buying only be- 
cause there were no more to purchase. 

But the partnership, it was soon evident, was unfortunate. 
Berry, though the son of a Presbyterian minister, was 
according to tradition "a very wicked young man," drinking, 
gambling, and taking an active part in all the disturbances 



RUNS FOR STATE ASSEMBLY 91 

of the neighborhood. In spite of the bad habits of his part- 
ner, Lincoln left the management of the business largely to 
him. It was his love of books which was responsible for 
this poor business management. He had soon discovered 
that store-keeping in New Salem, after all duties were done, 
left a large amount of leisure on a man's hands. It was h's 
chance to read, and he scoured the town for books. On 
pleasant days he spent hour after hour stretched under a 
tree, which stood just outside the door of the store, reading 
the works he had picked up. If it rained he simply^ made 
himself comfortable on the counter within. It was in this 
period that Lincoln discovered Shakespeare and Burns. In 
New Salem there was one of those curious individuals, some- 
times found in frontier settlements, half poet, half loafer, in- 
capable of earning a living in any steady employment, yet 
familiar with good literature and capable of enjoying it — 
Jack Kelso. He repeated passages from Shakespeare and 
Burns incessantly, over the odd jobs he undertook, or as he 
idled by the streams — for he was a famous fisherman — and 
Lincoln soon became one of his constant companions. The 
tastes he formed in company with Kelso he retamed through 
life. 

It was not only Burns and Shakespeare that interfered 
with the grocery keeping; Lincoln had begun seriously to 
read law. His first acquaintance with the subject, we have 
already seen, had been made when, a mere lad, a copy of the 
"Revised Statutes of Indiana" had fallen into his hands. 

But from the time he left Indiana in 1830 he had no legal 
reading until one day soon after the grocery was started, 
there happened one of those trivial incidents which so 
often turn the current of a life. It is best told in Mr. Lin- 
coln's own words.* "One day a man who was migratmg to 

*This incident was told by Lincoln to Mr. A. J. Conant, the artist, 
who in i860 painted his portrait in Springfield. Mr. Conant, in order 



94 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

the West drove up in front of my store with a wagon which 
contained his family and household plunder. He asked me 
if I would buy an old barrel for which he had no room in his 
wagon, and which he said contained nothing of special value. 
I did not want it, but to oblige him I bought it, and paid him, 
I think, half a dollar for it. Without further examination I 
put it away in the store, and forgot all about it. Some time 
after, in overhauling things, I came upon the barrel, and 
emptying it upon the floor to see what it contained, I found at 
the bottom of the rubbish a complete edition of Blackstone's 
Commentaries. I began to read those famous works, and I 
had plenty of time ; for during the long summer days, when 
the farmers w^ere busy with their crops, my customers were 
few and far between. The more I read" — this he said with 
unusual emphasis — "the m.ore intensely interested I became. 
Never in my whole life was my mind so thoroughly absorbed. 
I read until I devoured them." 

But all this was fatal to business, and by spring it was evi- 
dent that something must be done to stimulate the grocery 
sales. Liquor selling was the expedient adopted, for, on the 
6th of March, 1833, the County Commissioners' Court of 
Sangamon County granted the firm of Berry and Lincoln 
a license to keep a tavern at New Salem. It is probable that 
the license was procured not to enable the firm to keep a 
tavern but to retail the liquors which they had in stock. 
Each of the three groceries which Berry and Lincoln ac- 
quired had the usual supply of liquors and it was only natural 
that they should seek a way to dispose of the surplus quickly 
and profitably — an end which could be best accomplished by 
selling it over the counter by the glass. To do this lawfully 

to catch Mr. Lincoln's pleasant expression, had engaged him in conver- 
sation, and had questioned him about his early life ; and it was in the 
course of their conversation that this incident came out. It is to be found 
in a delightful and suggestive article entitled, "My Acquaintance with 
Abraham Lincoln," contributed by Mr. Conant to the 'Liber Scrip- 
torum." 



RUNS FOR STATE ASSEMBLY 95 

required a tavern license ; and it is a warrantable conclusion 
that such was the chief aim of Berry and Lincoln in procur- 
ing a franchise of this character. We are fortified in this 
conclusion by the coincidence that three other grocers of 
New Salem were among those who took out tavern licenses. 

Li a community in which liquor drinking was practically 
universal, at a time when whiskey was as legitimate an arti- 
cle of merchandise as coffee or calico, when no family was 
without a jug, when tlie minister of the gospel could take his 
"dram" without any breach of propriety, it is not surprising 
that a reputable young man should have been found selling 
whiskey. Liquor was sold at all groceries, but it could not 
be lawfully sold in a smaller quantity than one quart. The 
law, however, was not always rigidly observed, and it was 
the custom of storekeepers to treat their patrons. 

The license issued to Berry and Lincoln read as follows : 

Ordered that William F. Berry, in the name of Berry and 
Lincoln, have a license to keep a tavern in New Salem to con- 
tinue 12 months from this date, and tliat they pay one dollar 
in addition to the six dollars heretofore paid as per Treas- 
urer's receipt, and that they be allowed the following rates 
(viz.): 

French Brandy per -| pt . . 25 

Peach " " '' 18^ 

Apple " " " 12 

Holland Gin " " i8f 

Domestic " " ..,.,... 12^- 

Wine " " 25 

Rum " " 18^ 

Whiskey " "' . . . I2-J- 

Breakfast, dinner or supper 25 

Lodging per night 12^ 

Horse per night , 25 

Single feed - 12^ 

Breakfast, dinner or supper for Stage Passengers . . . . 2)7i 
who gave bond as required by law. 



96 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

At the granting of a tavern license, the applicants there- 
for were required by law to file a bond. Tlie bond given in 
the case of Berry and Lincoln was as follows : 

Know all men by these presents, we. William F. Berry, 
Abraham Lincoln and John Bowling Green, are held and 
firmly bound unto the County Commissioners of Sangamon 
county in the full sum of three hundred dollars to which 
payment well and truly to be made we bind ourselves, our 
heirs, executors and administrators firmly by these presents, 
sealed with our seal and dated this 6th day of March A. D. 
1833. Now the condition of this obligation is such that 
Whereas the said Berry & Lincoln has obtained a license 
from the County Commissioners' Court to keep a tavern in 
the town of New Salem to continue one year. Now if the 
said Berry & Lincoln shall be of good behavior and observe 
all the laws of this State relative to tavern keepers — then 
this obligation to be void or otherwise remain in full force. 

Abraham Lincoln [Seal] 
Wm. F. Berry [Seal] 

Bowling Green [Seal] 

This bond appears to have been written by the clerk of the 
Commissioners' Court; and Lincoln's name was signed by 
some other than himself, very likely by his partner 
Berry. 

Business was not so brisk in Berry and Lincoln's gro- 
cery, even after the license Avas granted, that the junior part- 
ner did not welcome an appointment as postmaster which he 
received in May, 1833. The appointment of a Whig by a 
Democratic administration seems to have been made without 
comment. "Tlie ofiice was too insignificant to make his poli- 
tics an objection." say his autobiographical notes. The du- 
ties of the new office were not arduous, for letters were few, 
and their comings far between. At that date the mails were 
carried by four-horse post-coaches from city to city, and on 
horseback from central points into the country towns. The 



RUNS FOR STATE ASSEMBLY 97 

rates of postage were high. A single-sheet letter carried 
thirty miles or under cost six cents; thirty to eighty miles, 
ten cents ; eighty to one hundred and fifty miles, twelve and 
one-half cents ; one hundred and fifty to four hundred miles, 
eighteen and one-half cents; over four hundred miles, 

^r^Ajy> Mau^Jl^ Aoo^a^^ Co £■*- ^n^^oL /(yt^ CUjC***^*.**/ 
QyU,oK. fy\,<tuf- c£JtjL dc ^M.*j-*^ ItreuCLvU <x ^t>-^ Ji^***^ 




^sr^Cj^-e^ 




FACSIMIT.K OF A LETTER WKITTEN BY POSTMASTER LINCOLN 

Reproduced by permission from " Menard-Salem -Lincoln Souvenir Album." 

Petersburg, 1893. 

twenty-five cents. A copy of one of the popular magazines 
sent from New York to New Salem would have cost fully 
twenty-five cents. The mail was irregular in coming as well 
as light in its contents. Though supposed to arrive twice a 
week, it sometimes happened that a fortnight or more passed 
(7) 



9» LIFE OF LINCOLN 

without any mail. Under these conditions the New Salem 
post-office was not a serious care. 

A large number of the ])atr<)ns of the office lived in tlie 
country — many of them miles away — and generally Lincoln 
delivered their letters at their doors. These letters he would 
carefully place in the crown of his hat, and distribute them 
from house to house. Thus it was in a measure true that he 
kept the New Salem post-office in his hat. The babit of car- 
rying papers in his hat clung to Lincoln ; for, many year.s 
later, when he was a practising lawyer in Springfield, he 
apolog"ized for failing to answer a letter promptly, by ex- 
plaining: "When I received your letter I put it in my old 
hat, and buying a new one the next day, the old one was set 
aside, and so tbe letter was lost sight of for a time." 

But whether the mail was delivered by the postmaster him- 
self, or was received at the store it was the hai)it "to stop and 
visit awhile." He who received a letter read it and repeated 
the contents; if he had a newspaper, usually the postmaster 
could tell him in advance what it contained, for one of the 
perquisites of the early post-office was the privilege of 
reading all printed matter before delivering it. Every day, 
then, Lincoln's acquaintance in New Salem, through his 
position as postmaster, became more intimate. 

As the summer of 1833 went on, the condition of the store 
became more and more unsatisfactory. As the position of 
postmaster brought in only a small revenue, Lincoln was 
forced to take any odd work he could get. He helped in 
other stores in the town, split rails, and looked after the mill ; 
but all this yielded only a scant and uncertain support, and 
when in the fall he had an opportunity to learn surveying, he 
accepted it eagerly. 

The condition of affairs in Illinois in the early tiiirtier, 
made a demand for the service of surveyors. The immigra- 
tion had been phenomenal. There were ♦:housands of farms 



RUNS FOR STATE ASSEMBLY 99 

to be surveyed and thousands of corners to l)e located. 
Speculators bought up large tracts and mapped out cities 
on paper. It was years before the first railroad was built in 
Illinois, and, as all inland traveling was on horseback or in 
the stage-coach, each year hundreds of miles of wagon roads 
were opened through woods and swamps and prairies. As 
the county of Sangamon was large, and eagerly sought by 
immigrants, the county surveyor in 1833, one John Calhoun, 
needed deputies ; but in a country so new it was no easy mat- 
ter to find men with the requisite capacity. 

With Lincoln, Calhoun had little, if any, personal ac- 
quaintance, for they lived twenty miles apart. Lincoln, 
however, had made himself known by his meteoric race for 
the legislature in 1832, and Calhoun had heard of him as an 
honest, intelligent, and trustworthy young man. One day 
he sent word to Lincoln by Pollard Simmons, who lived in 
the New Salem neighborhood, that he had decided to appoint 
him a deputy surveyor if he would accept the position. 

Going into the woods, Simmons found Lincoln engaged 
in his old occupation of making rails. The two sat down 
together on a log, and Simmons told Lincoln what Calhoun 
had said. Now Calhoun was a "Jackson man;" lie was iov 
Clay. What did he know about surveying, and why shoukl 
a Democratic official offer him a position of any kind ? He 
immediately went to Springfield, and had a talk with Cal- 
houn. He would not accept the appointment, he said, unless 
he had the assurance that it involved no political obligation, 
and that he might continue to express his political opinions 
as freely and frequently as he chose. This assurance was 
given. The only difficulty then in the way was the fact that 
he knew absolutely nothing of surveying. But Calhoun, of 
course, understood this, and agreed that he should liave time 
to learn. 

With the promptness of action with which he always un- 



lOO LIFE OF LINCOLN 

dertook anything he had to do, Lincohi procured Flint and 
Gibson's treatise on surveying, and sought Mentor Graham 
for help. At a sacrifice of some time, the schoolmaster aided 
him to a partial mastery of the intricate subject. Lincoln 
worked literally day and night, sitting up night after night 
until the crowing of the cock warned him of the approaching 
dawn. So hard did he study that his friends were greatly 
concerned at his haggard face. But in six weeks he had mas- 
tered all the books within reach relating to the subject — a 
task which, under ordinary circumstances, would hardly 
have been achieved in as many months. Reporting to Cal- 
houn for duty (greatly to the amazement of that gentle- 
man), he was at once assigned to the territory in the north- 
west part of the county, and the first work he did of which 
there is any authentic record was in January, 1834. In that 
month he surveyed a piece of land for Russell Godby, dating 
the certificate January 14, 1834, and signing it "J- Calhoun, 
S. S. C, by A. Lincoln." 

Lincoln was frequently employed in laying out public 
roads, being selected for that purpose by the County Com- 
missioners' Court. So far as can be learned from the official 
records, the first road he surveyed was "from Musick's Ferry 
on Salt creek, via New Salem, to the county line in the di- 
rection of Jacksonville." For this he was allowed fifteen dol- 
lars for five days' service, and two dollars and fifty cents for 
a plat of the new road. The next road he surveyed, accord- 
ing to the records, was that leading from Athens to Sanga- 
mon town. This was reported to the County Commissioners' 
Court November 4, 1834. But road surveying was only a 
small portion of his work. He was more frequently em- 
ployed by private individuals. 

According to tradition, when he first took up the business 
he was too poor to buy a chain, and. instead, used a long, 
straight grape-vine. Probably this is a myth, though sur- 



RUNS FOR STATE ASSEMBLY lOI 

veyors who had experience in the early days say it may be 
true. The chains commonly used at that time were made of 
iron. Constant use wore away and weakened the links, and 
it was no unusual thing for a chain to lengthen six inches 
after a year's use. "And a good grape-vine," to use the words 
of a veteran surveyor, "would give quite as satisfactory re- 
sults as one of those old-fashioned chains." 

Lincoln's surveys had the extraordinary merit of being 
correct. Much of the government work had been rather in- 
differently done, or the government corners had been im- 
perfectly preserved, and there were frequent disputes be- 
tween adjacent land-owners about boundary lines. Fre- 
quently Lincoln was called upon in such cases to find the cor- 
ner in controversy. His verdict was invariably the end of the 
dispute, so general was the confidence in his honesty and 
skill. Some of these old corners located by him are still in ex- 
istence. The people of Petersburg proudly remember that 
they live in a town w^iich was laid out by Lincoln. This he 
did in 1836, and it was the work of several weeks. 

Lincoln's pay as a surveyor was three dollars a day, more 
than he had ever before earned. Compared with the compen- 
sation for like services nowadays it seems small enough ; but 
at that time it was really princely. The Governor of the State 
received a salary of only one thousand dollars a year, the 
Secretary of State six hundred dollars, and good board and 
lodging could be obtained for one dollar a week. But even 
tluee dollars a day did not enable him to meet all his financial 
obligations. The heavy debts of the store hung over him. 
He was obliged to help his father's family. The long dis- 
tances he had to travel in his new employment had made it 
necessary to buy a horse, and for it he had gone into debt. 

"My father," says Thomas Watkins, of Petersburg, who 
remembers the circumstances well, "sold Lincoln the horse, 
and my recollection is that Lincoln agreed to pay him fifty 



QciOJ^- Siyvy-oC t&ZXt /Uht^ £^ouv^<, /I'U.OLMjLt tJ^ Jo^juiA) 




rACSIMILB OF A RFPORT OF A ROAD SURVKY BY LINCOLW 



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> IN MKNAUl) COUNTif, ILL 



I04 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

dollars for it. Lincoln was a little slow in making the pay- 
ments, and after he had paid all but ten dollars, my father, 
who was a hlgfh-strung man, became impatient, and sued him 
for the balance. Lincoln, of course, did not deny the debt, 
but raised the money and paid it. I do not often tell this," Mr. 
Watkins adds, "because I have always thought there never 
was such a man as Lincoln, and I have always been sorry 
father sued him." 

Between his duties as deputy surveyor and postmaster, 
Lincoln had little leisure for the store, and its management 
passed into the hands of Berry. The stock of groceries was 
on the wane. The numerous obligations of the firm were ma- 
turing, with no money to meet them. Both members of the 
firm, in the face of such obstacles, lost courage; and when, 
early in 1834, Alexander and William Trent asked if the 
store was for sale, an affirmative answer was eagerly given. 
A price was agreed upon, and the sale was made. Now, 
neither Alexander Trent nor his brother had any money; but 
as Berry and Lincoln had bought without money, it seemed 
only fair that they should be willing to sell on the same terms. 
Accordingly the notes of the Trent brothers were accepted 
for the purchase price, and the store was turned over to the 
new owners. But about the time their notes fell due the 
Trent brothers disappeared. The few groceries in the store 
were seized by creditors, and the doors were closed, never to 
be opened again. Misfortunes now crowded upon Lincoln. 
His late partner. Berry, soon reached the end of his wild ca- 
reer, and one morning a farmer from the Rock Creek neigh- 
borhood drove into New Salem with tlie news that he was 
dead. 

The appalling debt which had accumulated was thrown 
upon Lincoln's shoulders. It was then too common a fashion 
among men who became deluged in debt to "clear out." in 
the expressive language of the pioneer, as the Trents had 



RUNS FOR STATE ASSEMBLY 105 

done; but this was not Lincoln's way. He quietly settled 
down among the men he owed, and promised to pay them. 
For fifteen years he carried this burden — a load which he 
cheerfully and manfully bore, but one so heavy that he habit- 
ually spoke of it as the "national debt." Talking once of it to 
a friend, Lincoln said : "That debt was the greatest obstacle 
I have ever met in life; I had no way of speculating, and 
could not earn money except by labor, and to earn by labor 
eleven hundred dollars, besides my living, seemed the work 
of a lifetime. There was, however, but one way. I went to 
the creditors, and told them that if they would let me alone, 
I would give them all T could earn over my living, as fast as 
I could earn it." As late as 1848, so we are informed by Mr. 
Herndon, Mr. Lincoln, then a member of Congress, sent 
home money saved from his salary, to be applied on these ob- 
ligations. All the notes, with interest at the high rates then 
prevailing, were at last paid. 

With a single exception Lincoln's creditors seemed to be 
lenient. One of the notes given by him came into the hands 
of a Mr. Van Bergen, who, when it fell due, brought suit. 
The amount of the judgment was more than Lincoln could 
pay, and his personal effects were levied upon. These con- 
sisted of his horse, saddle and bridle, and surveying instru- 
ments. James Short, a well-to-do farmer living on Sand 
Ridge, a few miles north of New Salem, heard of the trouble 
which had befallen his young friend. Without advising Lin- 
coln of his plans, he attended the sale, bought in the horse 
and surveying instruments for one hundred and twenty dol- 
lars, and turned them over to their former owner. 

Lincoln never forgot a benefactor. He not only repaid the 
money with interest, but nearly thirty years later remem- 
bered the kindness in a most substantial way. After Lincoln 
left New Salem financial reverses came to James Short, and 
he removed to the far West to seek his fortune anew. Early 



io6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

in Lincoln's presidential term he heard that "Uncle Jimmy" 
was living in CalifDrnia. One day Mr. Short received a let- 
ter from Washington, D. C. Tearing it open, he read the 
gratifying announcement that he had been commissioned an 
Indian agent. 

The kindness of Mr. Short was not exceptional in Lin- 
coln's New Salem career. When the store had "winked out,*' 
as he put it, and the post-office had been left without head- 
quarters, one of his neighbors, Samuel Hill, invited the 
homeless postmaster into his store. There was hardly a man 
or woman in the community who would not have been glad 
to have done as much. It was a simple recognition on their 
part of Lincoln's friendliness to them. He was what they 
called "obliging" — a man who instinctively did the thing 
which he saw would help another, no matter how trivial or 
homely it was. In the home of Rowan Herndon, where he 
had boarded when he first came to the town, he had made 
himself loved by his care of the children. "He nearly always- 
had one of them around with him," says Mr. Herndon. lu 
the Rutledge tavern, where he afterwards lived, the landlord 
told with appreciation how, when his house was full, Lincoln 
gave up his bed, went to the store, and slept on the counter, 
his pillow a web of calico. If a traveler "stuck in the mud" 
in New Salem's one street, Lincoln was always the first to 
help pull out the wheel. The widows praised him because he 
"chopped their wood;" the overworked, because lie was al- 
ways ready to give them a lift. It was the spontaneous, un- 
obtrusive helpfulness of the man's nature which endeared 
him to everybody and which inspired a general desire to do 
all possible in return. There are many tales told of homely 
service rendered him, even by the hard-working farmers' 
wives around New Salem. There was not one of them who 
did not gladly "put on a plate" for Abe Lincoln when he ap- 
peared, or would not darn or mend for him when she knew 



RUNS FOR STATE ASSEMBLY 107 

he needed it. Hannah Armstrong, the wife of the hero of 
Clary's Grove, made him one of her family. "Abe would 
come out to our house," she said, "'drink milk, eat mush, 
combread and butter, bring the children candy, and rock the 
cradle while I got him something to eat. . . . Has stayed 
at our house two or three weeks at a time." Lincoln's pay 
for his first piece of surveying came in the shape of two buck- 
skins, and it was Hannah who "foxed" them on his trousers. 
His relations were equally friendly in the better homes of 
the community; even at the minister's, the Rev. John Cam- 
eron's, he was perfectly at home, and Mrs. Cameron was by 
him affectionately called "Aunt Polly." It was not only his 
kindly service which made Lincoln loved; it was his sym- 
pathetic comprehension of the lives and joys and sorrows and 
interests of the people. Whether it was Jack Armstrong and 
his wrestling, Hannah and her babies, Kelso and his fishing 
and poetry, the school-master and his books — with one and 
all he was at home. He possessed in an extraordinary degree 
the power of entering into the interests of others, a power 
found only in reflective, unselfish natures endowed with a 
humorous sense of human foibles, coupled with great tender- 
ness of heart. Men and women amused Lincoln, but so long 
as they were sincere he loved them and sympathized with 
them. He was human in the best sense of that fine word. 



CHAPTER VIII 

ELECTIONEERING IN ILLINOIS IN 1 834 LINCOLN READS LAW 

FIRST TERM AS ASSEMBLYMAN LINCOLN'S FIRST GREAT 

SORROW 

Now that the store was closed and his surveying increased, 
Lincohi had an excellent opportunity to extend his acquaint- 
ance by traveling about the country. Everywhere he won 
friends. The surveyor naturally was respected for his call- 
ing's sake, but the new deputy surveyor was admired for his 
friendly ways, his willingness to lend a hand indoors as well 
as out, his learning, his ambition, his independence. 
Throughout the county he began to be regarded as a "right 
smart young man." Some of his associates appear even to 
have comprehended his peculiarly great character and dimly 
to have foreseen a splendid future. "Often," says Daniel 
Green Burner, at one time clerk in Berry and Lincoln's gro- 
cery, "I have heard my brother-in-law. Dr. Duncan, say he 
would not be surprised if some day Abe Lincoln got to be 
governor of Illinois. Lincoln," Mr. Burner adds, 'was 
thought to know a little more than anybody else among the 
young people. He was a good debater, and liked it. He read 
much, and seemed never to forget anything." 

Lincoln was fully conscious of his popularity, and it 
seemed to him in 1834 tliat he could safely venture to try 
again for the legislature. Accordingly he announced himself 
as a candidate, spending much of the summer of 1834 in elec- 
tioneering. It was a repetition of what he had done in 1832, 
though on the larger scale made possible by wider acquaint- 
ance. In company with the other candidates he rode up and 



ELECTIONEERING IN ILLINOltj 109 

down the county, making speeches in the pubhc squares, in 
shady groves, now and then in a log school-house. In his 
speeches he soon distinguished himself by the amazing can- 
dor with which he dealt with all questions, and by his curious 
blending of audacity and humility. Wherever he sav/ a 
crowd of men he joined them, and he never failed to adapt 
himself to their point of view in asking for votes. If the de- 
gree of physical strength was their test for a candidate, he 
was ready to lift a weight, or wrestle with the countryside 
champion ; if the amount of grain a man could cut would rec- 
ommend him, he seized the cradle and showed the swath he 
could cut. The campaign was well conducted, for in August 
he was elected one of the four assemblymen from Sanga- 
mon. 

The best thing which Lincoln did in the canvass of 1834 
was not winning votes; it was coming to a determination to 
read law, not for pleasure, but as a business. In his autobi- 
ographical notes he says : "During the canvass, in a private 
conversation. Major John T. Stuart (one of his fellow-candi- 
dates) encouraged Abraham to study law. After the election 
he borrowed books of Stuart, took them home with him and 
went at it in good earnest. He never studied with anybody." 
He seems to have thrown himself into the work with almost 
impatient ardor. As he tramped back and forth from Spring- 
field, twenty miles away, to get his law books, he read some- 
times forty pages or more on the way. Often he was seen 
wandering at random across the fields, repeating aloud the 
points in his last reading. The subject seemed never to be 
out of his mind. It was the great absorbing interest of his 
life. The rule he gave twenty years later to a young man who 
wanted to know how to become a lawyer, was the one he 
practiced : 

"Get books and read and study them carefully. Begin with 
Blackstone's 'Commentaries,' and after reading carefully 



no LIFE OF LINCOLN 

through, say twice, take Chitty's 'Pleadings,' Greenleaf's 
'Evidence,' and Story's 'Ec[uity,' in succession. Work, work, 
work is the main thing." 

Having secured a book of legal forms, he was soon able to 
write deeds, contracts, and all sorts of legal instruments ; and 
he was frequently called upon by his neighbors to perform 
services of this kind. "In 1834," says Daniel Green Burner, 
"my father, Isaac Burner, sold out to Henry Onstott, and he 
wanted a deed written. I knew how handy Lincoln was that 
way and suggested that we get him. We found him sitting 
on a stump. 'All right,' said he, when informed what we 
wanted. 'If you will bring me a pen and ink and a piece of 
paper I will write it here.' I brought him these articles, and, 
picking up a shingle and putting it on his knee for a desk, he 
wrote out the deed." 

As there was no practising lawyer nearer than Springfield, 
Lincoln was often employed to act the part of advocate be^ 
fore the village squire, at that time Bowding Green. He real- 
ized that this experience was valuable, and never, so far as 
known, demanded or accepted a fee for his services in these 
petty cases. 

Justice was sometimes administered in a summary way in 
Squire Green's court. Precedents and the venerable rules of 
law had little weight. The "Squire" took judicial notice of a 
great many facts, often going so far as to fill, simultane- 
ously, the two functions of witness and court. But his deci- 
sions were generally just. 

James McGrady Rutledge tells a story in which several of 
Lincoln's old friends figure and which illustrates the legal 
practices of New Salem. "Jack Kelso," says Mr. Rutledge, 
"owned, or claimed to own, a \\ hite hog. It was also claimed 
by John Ferguson. The hog had wandered around Bowling 
Green's place, until he felt somewdiat acquainted with it. 
Ferguson sued Kelso, and the case was tried before 'Squire' 



ELECTIONEERING IN ILLINOIS III 

Green. The plaintiff produced two witnesses who testified 
positively that the hog belonged to him. Kelso had nothing 
to offer, save his own unsupported claim. 

" 'Are there any more witnesses ?' inquired the court. 

"He was informed that there were no more. 

" 'Well,' said 'Squire' Green, 'the two witnesses we have 

heard have sworn to a lie. I know this shoat, and I 

know it belongs to Jack Kelso. I therefore decide this case 
in his favor,' " 

An extract from the record of the County Commissioners' 
Court illustrates the nature of the cases that came before the 
justice of the peace in Lincoln's day. It also shows the price 
put upon the privilege of working on Sunday, in 1832 : 

"January 29, 1832. — Alexander Gibson found guilty of 
Sabbath-breaking and fined I2| cents. Fine paid into court. 
"(Signed) Edward Robinson, J. P." 

The session of the Ninth Assembly began December i, 
1834, and Lincoln went to the capital, then Vandalia, sev- 
enty-fi\'e miles southeast of New Salem, on the Kaskaskia 
river, in time for the opening. Vandalia was a town which 
had been called into existence in 1820 especially to give the 
State government an abiding place. Its very name had been 
chosen, it is said, because it "sounded well" for a State capi- 
tal. As the tradition goes, while the commissioners were de- 
bating what they should call the town they were making, a 
wag suggested that it be named Vandalia, in honor of the 
Vandals, a tribe of Indians which, he said, had once lived on 
the borders of the Kaskaskia ; this, he argued, would con- 
serve a local tradition while giving a euphonious title. The 
commissioners, pleased with so good a suggestion, adopted 
the name. When Lincoln first v.ent to Vandalia it was a 
town of about eight hundred inhabitants; its noteworthy 



112 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

features, according to Peck's "Gazetteer" of Illinois for 
1834, being a brick court-house, a two-story brick edifice 
"used by State officers," "a neat framed house of worship for 
the Presbyterian Society, with a cupola and bell," "a framed 
meeting-house for the Methodist Society," three taverns, 
several stores, five lawyers, four physicians, a land office, and 
two newspapers. It was a much larger town than Lincoln 
had ever lived in before, though he was familiar with Spring- 
field, then twice as large as Vandalia, and he had seen the 
cities of the Mississippi. 

The Assembly which he entered was composed of eighty- 
one members — twenty-six senators and fifty-five repre- 
sentatives. As a rule, these men were of Kentucky, Tennes- 
see, or Virginia origin, with here and there a Frenchman. 
There were but few eastern men, for there was still a strong 
prejudice in the State against Yankees. The close bargains 
and superior airs of the emigrants from New England con- 
trasted so unpleasantly with the open-handed hospitality and 
the easy ways of the Southerners and French., that a pio- 
neer's prospects were blasted at the start if he acted like a 
Yankee. A history of Illinois in 1837, published evidently to 
"boom" the State, cautioned the emigrant that if he began 
his life in Illinois by "affecting superior intelligence and 
virtue, and catechizing the people for their habits of plain- 
ness and simplicity and their apparent want of those things 
which he imagines indispensable to comfort," he must expect 
to be forever marked as "a Yankee," and to have his pros- 
pects correspondingly defeated. A "hard-shell" Baptist 
preacher of about this date showed the feeling of the people 
when he said, in preaching of the richness of the grace of the 
Lord : "It tuks in the isles of the sea and the uttermust part 
of the yeth. It embraces the Esquimaux and the Hottentots, 
and some, my dear brethering, go so far as to suppose that it 
tuks in the poor benighted Yankees, but / don't go that fur." 



ELECTIONEERING IN ILLINOIS 113 

When it came to an election of legislators, many of the peo- 
ple "didn't go that fur" cither. 

There was a preponderance of jean suits like Lincoln's in 
the Assembly, and there were occasional coonskin caps and 
buckskin trousers. Nevertheless, more than one member 
show^ed a studied garl) and a courtly manner. Some of th^ 
best blood of the South went into tiie making of Illinois, and 
it showed itself from the first in the Assembly. The sur- 
roundings of the legislators were quite as simple as the attire 
of the plainest of them. The court-house, in good old 
Colonial style, with square pillars and belfry, was finished 
with wooden desks and benches. The State furnished her 
law-makers few perquisites beyond their three dollars a day. 
A cork inkstand, a certain number of quills, and a limited 
amount of stationery were all the extras an Illinois legislator 
in 1834 got from his position. Scarcely more could be ex- 
pected from a State whose revenues from December i, 1834, 
to December i, 1836, were only about one hundred and twen- 
ty-five thousand dollars, wnth expenditures during the same 
period amounting to less than one hundred and sixty-five 
thousand dollars. 

Lincoln thought little of these things, no doubt. To hnn 
the absorbing interest was the men he met. To get ac- 
quainted with them, measure them, compare himself with 
them, and discover wherein they were his superiors and what 
he could do to make good his deficiency — this was his chief 
occupation. The men he met were good subjects for such 
study. Among them were William L. D. Ewing, Jesse K. 
Dubois, Stephen T. Logan, Theodore Ford, and Governor 
Duncan — men destined to play large parts in the history of 
the State. One whom he met that winter in Vandalia was 
destined to play a great part in the history of thejiation — the 
Democratic candidate for the office of State attorney for the 
first judicial district of Illinois; a man four ye^rs younger 
(8) i 



114 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

than Lincoln — he was only twenty-one at the time; a new- 
comer, too, in the State, having arrived about a year before, 
under no very promising auspices either, for he had only 
thirty-seven cents in his pockets, and no position in view ; but 
a man of mettle, it was easy to see, for already he had risen so 
high in the district where he had settled, that he dared con- 
test the office of State attorney with John J. Hardin, one of 
the most successful lawyers of the State. This young man 
was Stephen A. Douglas. He had come to Vandalia from 
Morgan county to conduct his campaign, and Lincoln met 
him first in the halls of the old court-house, where he and 
his friends carried on with success their contest against 
Hardin. 

The ninth Assembly gathered in a more hopeful and am- 
bitious mood than any of its predecessors. Illinois was feel- 
ing well. The State was free from debt. The Black Hawk 
war had stimulated the people greatly, for it had brought a 
large amount of money into circulation. In fact, the -greater 
portion of the eight to ten million dollars the war had cost, 
had been circulated among the Illinois volunteers. Immigra- 
tion, too, was increasing at a bewildering rate. In 1835 the 
census showed a population of 269,974. Between 1830 and 
1835 two-fifths of this number had come in. In the northeast 
Chicago had begun to rise. "Even for a western town,"' its 
growth had been unusually rapid, declared Peck's "Gazet- 
teer," of 1834; the harbor building there, the proposed Michi- 
gan and Illinois canal, the rise in town lots — all promised to 
the State a great metropolis. To meet the rising tide of 
prosperity, the legislators of 1834 felt that they must devise 
some worthy scheme, so they chartered a new State bank, 
with a capital of one million five hundred thousand dollars, 
and revived a bank which had broken twelve years before, 
granting it a charter of three hundred thousand dollars. 
There was no surplus money in the State to supply the capi- 



ELECTIONEERING IN ILLINOIS 1 15 

tal; there were no trained bankers to guide the concern; 
there was no clear notion of how it was ah to be done ; but a 
banking capital of one million eight hundred thousand dol- 
lars would be a good thing in the State, they were sure ; and 
if the East could be made to believe in Illinois as much as her 
legislators believed in her, the stocks would go; and so the 
banks were chartered. 

But even more important to the State than banks was a 
highway. For thirteen years plans for the Illinois and Michi- 
gan canal had been constantly before the Assembly. Sur- 
veys had been ordered, estimates reported, the advantages 
extolled, but nothing had been done. Now, however, the 
Assembly, flushed by the first thrill of the coming boom, 
decided to authorize a loan of a half-million on the credit of 
the State. Lincoln favored both these measures. He did 
not, however, do anything especially noteworthy for either 
of the bills, nor was the record he made in other directions 
at all remarkable. He was placed on the committee of pub- 
lic accounts and expenditures, and attended meetings with 
fidelity. His first act as a member was to give notice that he 
would ask leave to introduce a bill limiting the jurisdiction 
of justices of the peace — a measure which he succeeded in 
carrying through. He followed this by a motion to change 
the rules, so that it should not be in order to offer amend- 
ments to any bill after the third reading, which was not 
agreed to ; though the same rule, in effect, was adopted some 
years later, and is to this day in force in both branches of the 
Illinois Assembly. He next made a motion to take from the 
table a report which had been submitted by his committee, 
which met a like fate. His first resolution, relating to a 
State revenue to be derived from the sales of the public lands, 
was denied a reference, and laid upon the table. Neither 
as a speaker nor an organizer did he make any especial im- 
pression on the body. 



Il6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

In the spring of 1835 the young representative from San- 
gamon returned to New Salem to take up his duties as post- 
master and deputy surveyor, and to resume his law studies. 
He exchanged his rather exalted position for the humhler 
one with a light heart. New Salem held all that was dear- 
est in the world to him at that moment, and he went back 
to the poor little town with a hope, which he had once sup- 
posed honor forbade his acknowledging even to himself, 
glowing warmly in his heart. He loved a young girl of that 
town, and now for the first time, though he had known her 
since he first came to New Salem, was he free to tell his love. 

One of the most prominent families of the settlement in 
1 83 1, when Lincoln first appeared there, was that of James 
Rutledge. The head of the house was one of the founders 
of New Salem, and at that time the keeper of the village 
tavern. He was a high-minded man, of a warm and gener- 
ous nature, and had the universal respect of the community. 
He was a South Carolinian by birth, but had lived many 
years in Kentucky before coming to Illinois. Rutledge came 
of a distinguished family: one of his ancestors signed the 
Declaration of Independence ; another was chief justice of the 
Supreme Court of the United States by appointment of 
Washington, and another was a conspicuous leader in the 
American Congress. 

The third of the nine children in the Rutledge household 
was a daughter, Ann Mayes, l)orn in Kentucky, January 7, 
1813. When Lincoln first met her she was nineteen years 
old, and as fresh as a flower. Many of those who knew her 
at that time have left tributes to her beauty and gentleness, 
and even to-day there are those living who talk of her with 
moistened eyes and softened tones. "She was a Ijeautiful 
girl." says her cousin. James McGrady Rutledge, "and as 
bright as she was beautiful. She was well educated for that 
early day, a good conversationalist, and always gentle ana 



ELECTIONEERING IN ILLINOIS Il7 

cheerful. A girl whose company people liked." So fair a 
maid was not, of course, without suitors. The most deter- 
mined of those who sought her hand was one John McNeill, 
a young man who had arrived in New Salem from New 
York soon after the founding of the town. Nothing was 
known of his antecedents, and no questions were asked. He 
was understood to be merely one of the thousands who had 
come west in search of fortune. That he was intelligent, 
industrious, and frugal, with a good head for business, was 
at once apparent ; for in four years from his first appearance 
in the settlement, besides earning a half-interest in a general 
store, McNeill had acquired a large farm a few miles north 
of New Salem. His neighbors believed him to be worth 
about twelve thousand dollars. 

John McNeill was an unmarried man — at least so he repre- 
sented himself to be — and very soon after becon'Jig a resi- 
dent of New Salem he formed the acquaintance of Ann Rut- 
ledge, then a girl of seventeen. It was a case of love at first 
sight, and the two soon became engaged, in spite of the riv- 
alry of Samuel Hill, McNeill's partner. But Ann was as 
yet only a young girl ; and it was thought very sensible in 
her and considerate in her lover that both acquiesced in the 
wishes of Ann's parents that, for some time at least, the 
marriage be postponed. 

Such was the situation when Lincoln appeared in New 
Salem. He naturally soon became acquainted with the girl. 
She was a pupil in Mentor Graham's school, where he fre- 
quently visited, and rumor says that he first met her there. 
However that may be, it is certain that in the latter part of 
1832 he went to board at the Rutledge tavern and there was 
thrown daily into her company. 

During the next year, 1833, John McNeill, in spite of his 
fair prospects, became restless and discontented. He wanted 
to see his people, he said, and before the end of the year he 



Il8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

decided to go East for a visit. To secure perfect free- 
dom from his business while gone, he sold out his interest 
in his store. To iVnn he said that he hoped to bring back his 
father and mother, and to place them on his farm. "This 
duty done," was his farewell word, "you and I will be mar- 
ried." In the spring of 1834 McNeill started East. The 
journey overland by foot and horse was in those days a try- 
ing one, and on the way McNeill fell ill with chills and fever. 
It was late in the summer before he reached his home, and 
wrote back to Ann, explaining his silence. 'I'he long wait 
had been a severe strain on the girl, and Lincoln had watched 
her anxiety with softened heart. It was to him, the New 
Salem postmaster, that she came to inquire for letters. It 
was to him she entrusted those she sent. In a way the post- 
master must have become the girl's confidant; and his tender 
heart must have been deeply touched. After the long silence 
was broken, and McNeill's first letter of explanation came, 
the cause of anxiety seemed removed ; but, strangely enough, 
other letters followed only at long inter\'als, and finally they 
ceased altogether. Then it was that the young girl told her 
friends a secret which McNeill had confided to her before 
leaving New Salem. 

He had told her what she had never even suspected before, 
that John McNeill was not his real name, but that it was 
John McNamar. Shortly before he came to New Salem, 
he explained, his father had suffered a disastrous failure in 
business. He was the oldest son ; and in the hope of re- 
trieving the lost fortune, he resolved to go West, expecting 
to return in a few years and share his riches with the rest of 
the family. Anticipating parental opposition, he ran away 
from home ; and, being sure that he could never accumulate 
anything with so numerous a family to support, he endeav- 
ored to lose himself by a change of name. All this Ann had 



ELECTIONEERING IN ILLINOIS 1 19 

believed and not repeated ; but now, worn out by waiting, she 
took the story to her friends. 

With few exceptions they pronounced the story a fabrica- 
tion and McNamar an impostor. His excuse seemed flimsy. 
Why had he worn this mask ? At best, they declared, he was 
a mere adventurer; and was it not more probable that he 
was a fugitive from justice — a thief, a swindler, or a mur- 
derer? And who knew how many wives he might have? 
With all New Salem declaring John McNamar false, Ann 
Rutledge could hardly be blamed for imagining that he was 
dead or had forgotten her. 

It was not until McNeill, or McNamar, had been gone 
many months, and gossip had become offensive, that Lincoln 
\entured to show his love for Ann, and then it was a long 
time before the girl would listen to his suit. Convinced at 
last, however, that her former lover had deserted her, she 
yielded to Lincoln's wishes and promised, in the spring of 
1835, soon after Lincoln's return from Vandalia, to become 
his wife. But Lincoln had nothing on which to support a 
family — indeed, he found it no trifling task to support him- 
self. As for /\nn, she was anxious to go to school another 
year. It was decided that in the autumn she should go with 
her brother to Jacksonville and spend the winter there in an 
academy. Lincoln was to devote himself to his law studies; 
and the next spring, when she returned from school and he 
had been admitted to the bar, they were to be married. 

A happy spring and summer followed. New Salem took 
a cordial interest in the two lovers and presaged a happy 
life for them, and all would undoubtedly have gone well if 
the young girl could have dismissed the haunting memory 
of her old lover. The possibility that she had wronged him, 
that he might reappear, that he loved her still, though she now 
loved another, that perhaps she had done wrong — a tortur- 
ing conflict of memor}', love* conscience, doubt, and mor- 



I20 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

bidness lay like a shadow across her happiness, and wore 
upon her until she fell ill. Gradually her condition became 
hopeless ; and Lincoln, who had been shut from her, was sent 
for. The lovers passed an hour alone in an anguished part- 
ing, and soon after, on August 25, 1835, Ann died. 

The death of Ann Rutledge plunged Lincoln into the deep- 
est gloom. That abiding melancholy, that painful sense of 
the incompleteness of life which had been his mother's dowry 
asserted itself. It filled and darkened his mind and his 
imagination tortured him with its black pictures. One 
stormy night Lincoln was sitting beside William Greene, his 
head bowed on his hand, while tears trickled through his 
fingers ; his friend begged him to control his sorrow, to try 
to forget. '1 cannot," moaned Lincoln; "the thought of 
the snow and rain on her grave fills me with indescribable 
grief." 

He was seen walking alone by the river and through the 
woods, muttering strange things to himself. He seemed 
to his friends to be in the shadow of madness. They kept 
a close watch over him; and at last Bowling Green, one of 
the most devoted friends Lincoln then had, took him home 
to his little log cabin, half a mile north of New Salem, under 
the brow of a big bluff. Here, under the loving care of 
Green, and his good wife Nancy, Lincoln remained until he 
was once more master of himself. 

But though he had regained self-control, his grief was 
deep and bitter. _'Vnn Rutledge was buried in Concord cem- 
etery, a country burying-ground seven miles northwest of 
New Salem. To this lonely spot Lincoln frecfuently jour- 
neyed to weep over her grave. "My heart is buried there," 
he said to one of his friends. 

When McNamar returned (for McNamar's story was 
true, and two months after Ann Rutledge died he drove into 
New Salem with his widowed mother and his brothers and 



ELECTIONEERING IN ILLINOIS I2I 

sisters in the "prairie schooner" beside him) and learned of 
Ann's death, he "saw Lincohi at the post-office," as he after- 
ward said, and "he seemed desolate and sorely distressed." 
On himself apparently, her death produced no deep impres- 
sion. Within a year he married another woman; and his 
conduct toward Ann Rutledge is to this day a mystery. 

In later life, when Lincoln's sorrow had become a 
memory, he told a friend who questioned him : "I really and 
truly loved the girl and think often of her now." There was 
a pause, and then the President added : 

"And I have loved the name of Rutledge to this day." 

When the death of Ann Rutledge came upon Lincoln, for 
a time threatening to destroy his ambition and blast his life, 
he was in a most encouraging position. Master of a profes- 
sion in which he had an abundance of work and earned fair 
fees, hopeful of being admitted in a few months to the bai , 
a member of the State Assembly with every reason to believe 
that, if he desired it, his constituency would return him — few 
men are as far advanced at twenty-six as was Abraham Lin- 
coln. 

Intellectually he was far better equipped than he believed 
himself to be, better than he has ordinarily been credited with 
being. True, he had had no conventional college training, 
but he had by his own efforts attained the chief result of all 
preparatory study, the ability to take hold of a subject and 
assimilate it. The fact that in six weeks he had acquired 
enough of the science of surveying to enable him to serve as 
deputy surveyor shows how well-trained his mind was. The 
power to grasp a large subject quickly and fully is never an 
accident. The nights Lincoln spent in Gentryville lying on 
the floor in front of the fire figuring on the fire-shovel, the 
hours he passed in poring over the Statutes of Indiana, the 
days he wrestled with Kirkham's Grammar, alone made the 
masterv of Flint and Gibson possible. His struggle with 



122 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Flint and Gibson made easier the volumes he borrowed from 
Major Stuart's law library. 

Lincoln had a mental trait which explains his rapid 
growth in mastering subjects — seeing clearly was essential 
to him. He was unable to put a question aside until he un- 
derstood it. It pursued him, irritated him until solved. 
Even in his Gentryville days his comrades noted that he was 
constantly searching for reasons and that he "explained so 
clearly." This characteristic became stronger with years. 
He was unwilling to pronounce himself on any subject until 
he understood it, and he could not let it alone until he had 
reached a conclusion which satisfied him. 

This seeing clearly became a splendid force in Lincoln ; 
for when he once had reached a conclusion he had the hon- 
esty of soul to suit his actions to it. No consideration could 
induce him to abandon the line of conduct which his reason 
told him was logical. Joined to these strong mental and 
moral qualities was that power of immediate action which so 
often explains why one man succeeds in life while another 
of equal intelligence and uprightness fails. As soon as Lin- 
coln saw a thing to do he did it. He wants to know ; here is 
a book — it may be a biography, a volume of dry statutes, a 
collection of verse; no matter, he reads and ponders it until 
he has absorbed all it has for him. He is eager to see the 
world; a man offers him a position as a " hand " on a Mis- 
sissippi flatboat; he takes it without a moment's hesitation 
over the toil and exposure it demands. John Calhoun is will- 
ing to make him a deputy surveyor ; he knows nothing of the 
science; in six weeks he has learned enough to begin his la- 
bors. Sangamon county must have representatives, why not 
he? and his circular goes out. Ambition alone will not ex- 
plain this power of instantaneous action. It comes largely 
from that active imagination which, when a new relation oi 
position opens, seizes on all its possibilities and from them 



ELECTIONEERING IN ILLINOIS 123 

creates a situation so real that one enters with confidence 
upon what seems to the unimaginative the rashest undertak- 
ing. Lincohi saw the possibihties in things and immediately 
appreciated them. 

But the position he filled in Sangamon county in 1835 was 
not all due to these qualities; much was due to his personal 
charm. By all accounts he was big, awkward, ill-clad, shy — 
yet his sterling honor, his unselfish nature, his heart of the 
true gentleman, inspired respect and confidence. Men might 
laugh at his first appearance, but they were not long in recog- 
nizing the real superiority of his nature. 

wSuch was Abraham Lincoln at twenty-six, when the tragic 
death of Ann Rutledge made all that he had attained, all that 
he had planned, seem fruitless and empty. He was too sin- 
cere and just, too brave a man, to allow a great sorrow per- 
manently to interfere with his activities. He rallied his 
forces, and returned to his law, his surveying, his politics. 
He brought to his work a new power, that insight and 
patience which only a great sorrow can give. 



CHAPTER IX 

LINCOLN IS RE-ELECTED TO THE ILLINOIS ASSEMBLY HIS 

FIRST PUBLISHED ADDRESS PROTESTS AGAINST PRO- 
SLAVERY RESOLUTIONS OF THE ASSEMBLY 

The Ninth General Assembly of Illinois held its opening 
session in the winter of 1834-35. It was Lincoln's first ex- 
perience as a legislator and it was rather a tame one, but in 
December, 1835, the members were called to an extra ses- 
sion which proved to be in every way more exciting and more 
eventful than its predecesso/s. The chief reason for its be- 
ing called was in itself calculated to exhilarate the hopeful 
young law-givers. A census had been taken since their last 
session and so large an increase in population had been re- 
ported that it w'as considered necessary to summon the as- 
sembly to re-apportion the legislative districts. When the re- 
apportionment was made it was found that the General As- 
sembly was increased by fifty members, the number of sen- 
ators being raised from twenty-six to forty, of representa- 
tives from fifty-five to ninety-one. A growth of fifty mem- 
bers in four years excited the imagination of the State. The 
dignity and importance of Illinois suddenly assumed new im- 
portance. It was imagined that the story of New York's 
grow^th in wealth and influence was to l^e repeated in this 
new country and every aml)itious man in the assembly de- 
termined to lead in the rise ot the State. 

The work on internal improvements begun in the 
previous session took a new form. The governor, in calling 
the members together, had said : "\\'hile I would urge the 
most liberal support of all such measures as tending with per- 
fect certainty to increase the wealth and prosperity of the 

124 



FIRST PUBLISHED ADDRESS I25 

State, I would at the same time most respectfully suggest the 
propriety of intrusting the construction of all such works 
where it can be done consistently with the general interest, to 
individual enterprise." The legislators acquiesced and in this 
session began to grant a series of private charters for inter- 
nal improvenients which had they l)een carried out, would 
have given the State means of communication in 1840 al- 
most if not quite equal to those of to-day. The map on page 
135 shows the incorporations of railroad and canal com- 
panies made in the extra session of the Ninth Assembly, 
1835-36, and in the regular session of the Tenth, 1836-37; 
sixteen of the railroads were chartered in the former session. 

Lincoln and his colleagues did not devote their attention 
entirely to chartering railroads. Ten schools were chartered 
in this same session, some of which exist to-day. In the next 
session twelve academies and eighteen colleges received char- 
ters. 

The absorbing topic of the winter, however, and the one 
in which Lincoln was chiefly concerned was the threatened 
naturalization of the convention system in Illinois. Up to 
this time candidates for office in the United States had gen- 
erally nominated themselves as we have seen Lincoln doing. 
The only formality they imposed upon themselves was to 
consult a little unauthorized caucus of personal friends. Un- 
less they were exceptionally cautious persons the disapproval 
of this caucus did not stand in their way at all. So long as 
party lines were indistinct and the personal qualities of a 
candidate were considered rather than his platform this 
method of nomination was possible, but with party organiza- 
tion it began to change. In the case of presidential can- 
didates the convention with its delegates and platform had 
just appeared, the first full-fledged one being held but three 
years before, in 1832. Along with the presidential conven- 
tion came the "machine." an organization of all those who 



T26 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

belonged to a party, intended to secure unity of effort. 
By means of primaries and conventions one candidate was 
put forward by a party instead of a dozen being allowed to 
offer themselves. The strength which the convention gave 
the Democratic party, which first adopted and developed it, 
was enormous. The Whigs opposed the new institution ; they 
declared it "was intended to abridge the liberties of the peo- 
ple by depriving individuals, on their own mere motion, of 
the privilege of becoming candidates and depriving each man 
of the right to vote for a candidate of his own selection and 
choice." 

The efficacy of the new method was so apparent, however, 
that, let the Whigs preach as they would, it was rapidly 
adopted. In 1835 the whole machinery was well developed 
in New England and New York and had appeared in the 
West. In the north of Illinois the Democrats had begun to 
organize under the leadership of two men of eastern origin 
and training, Ebenezer Peck of Chicago, and Stephen A. 
Douglas of Jacksonville, and this session of the Illinois legis- 
lature the convention system became a subject of discussion. 

The Whigs, Lincoln among them, violently opposed the 
new scheme. It was a Yankee contrivance they said, favored 
only by New Englanders like Douglas, or worse still by 
monarchists like Peck. They recalled with pious indigna- 
tion that Peck was a Canadian, brought up under an aristo- 
cratic form of government, that he had even deserted the 
liberal party of this government to go over to the ultra- 
monarchists. They declared it a remarkable fact that no man 
bom and raised west of the mountains or south of the Po- 
tomac had yet returned to vindicate "the wholesale system of 
convention." In spite of Whig warnings, however, the con- 
vention system was approved by a vote of twenty-six to 
twenty-five. 

The Ninth Assembly expired at the close of this extra ses- 



FIRST PUBLISHED ADDRESS 1 27 

slon and in June Lincoln announced himself as a candidate 
lor the Tenth Assembly. A few days later the "Sangamon 
Journal" published his simple platform: 

"New Salem, June 13, 1836. 

"To the Editor of the 'Journal' : 

" In your paper of last Saturday I see a communication, 
over the signature of 'Many Voters,' in which the candidates 
who are announced in the 'Journal' are called upon to 'show 
their hands.' Agreed. Here's mine. 

"I go for all sharing the priv^ileges of the government who 
assist in bearing its l)urdens. Consequently, I go for ad- 
mitting all whites to the right of suffrage who pay taxes of 
bear arms (by no means excluding females). 

"If elected, I shall consider the whole people of Sangamon 
my constituents, as well those that oppose as those that sup- 
port me. 

"While acting as their representative, I shall be governed 
by their will on all subjects upon which I have the means of 
knowing what their will is; and upon all others I shall do 
what my own judgment teaches me will best advance their 
interests. Whether elected or not, I go for distril)uting the 
proceeds of the sales of the public lands to the several States, 
to enable our State, in common with others, to dig canals and 
construct railroads without borrowing money and paying 
the interest on it. 

"If alive on the first Monday in November, I shall vot*. 
for Hugh. L. White for President. 

"Very respectfully, 

"A. Lincoln." 

The campaign which Lincoln began with this letter was in 
every way more exciting for him than those of 1832 and 
1834. In the reapportionment of the legislative districts 
which had taken place the winter before Sangamon County's 
delegation had been enlarged to seven representatives and 
two senators. This gave large new opportunities to political 
ambition, and doubled the enthus^iasm of political meetings. 



128 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

But the increase of the representation was not all that 
made the campaign exciting. Party lines had never before 
been so clearly drawn in Sangamon county, nor personal 
abuse quite so frank. One of Lincoln's first acts was to an- 
swer a personal attack. During his absence from New Salem 
a rival candidate passed through the place and stated pub- 
licly that he was in possession of facts which, if known to 
the public, would entirely destroy Lincoln's prospects at the 
coming election ; but he declared that he thought so much of 
Lincoln that he would not tell what he knew. Lincoln met 
this mysterious insinuation with shrewd candor. "No one 
has needed favors more than I," he wrote his rival, "and gen- 
erally few have been less unwilling to accept them ; but ii'i 
this case favor to me would be injustice to the public, and 
therefore I must beg your pardon for declining it. That I 
once had the confidence of the people of Sangamon County 
is sufficiently evident; and if I have done anything, either by 
design or misadventure, which if known would subject me 
to a forfeiture of that confidence, he that knows of that thing 
and conceals it is a traitor to his country's interest. 

"I find myself wholly unable to form any conjecture of 
what fact or facts, real or supposed, you spoke ; but my opin- 
ion of your veracity will not permit me for a moment to 
doubt that you at least believed what >ou said. I am flat- 
tered with the personal regard you manifested for me ; but I 
do hope that on mature reflection you will view the public 
interest as a paramount consideration and therefore let the 
worst come." 

Usually during the campaign Lincoln was obliged to meet 
personal attacks, not by letter, but on the platform. Joshua 
Speed, who later became the most intimate friend that Lin- 
coln probably ever had, tells of one occasion when he was 
obliged to meet such an attack on the very spur of the mo- 
ment. A great mass-meeting was in progress at Spring- 



FIRST PUBLISHED ADDRESS 129 

field, and Lincoln had made a speech which had produced a 
deep impression. 

" I was then fresh from Kentucky," says Mr. Speed, " and 
had heard many of her great orators. It seemed to me then, 
as it seems to me now, that I never heard a more effective 
speaker. He carried the crowd with him, and swayed them 
as he pleased. So deep an impression did he make that 
George Forquer, a man of much celebrity as a sarcastic 
speaker and with a great reputation throughout the State as 
an orator, rose and asked the people to hear him. He l^egan 
his speech by saying that this young man would have to be 
taken down, and he was sorry that the task devolved 
upon him. He made what was called one of his 'slasher-gaff' 
speeches, dealing much in ridicule and sarcasm. Lincoln 
stood near him, with his arms folded, never interrupting him. 
When Forquer was done, Lincoln walked to the stand, and 
replied so fully and completely that his friends bore him from 
the court-house on their shoulders. 

"So deep an impression did this first speech make upon me 
that I remember its conclusion now, after a lapse of thirty- 
eight years. 

" 'The gentleman commenced his speech,' he said, 'by say- 
Jng that this young man would have to be taken down, and 
he was sorry the task devolved upon him. I am not so young 
in years as I am in the tricks and trade of a politician ; but 
live long or die young, I would rather die now than, like the 
gentleman, change my politics and simultaneous with the 
change receive an office worth three thousand dollars a year, 
and then have to erect a liglitning-rod over my house to pro- 
tect a guilty conscience from an offended God.' 

"To understand the point of this it must be explained that 
Forquer had been a Whig, but h.ad changed his politics, and 
had been appointed Register of the Land Office; and over 
his house was the only lightning-rod in the town or county. 
Lincoln had seeii the lightning-rod for the first time on the 
day before." 

This speech has never been forgotten in Springfield, and 
on my visits there I have repeatedly had the site of the house 

(9) 



I30 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

on which this particular lightning-rod was placed pointed 
out, and one or another of the many versions which the story 
has taken, related to me. 

It was the practice at that date in Illinois for two rival can- 
didates to travel over the district together. The custom led 
to much good-natured raillery between them ; and in such 
contests Lincoln was rarely, if ever, worsted. He could even 
turn the generosity of a rival to account by his whimsical 
treatment. On one occasion, says Mr. Weir, a former resi- 
dent of Sangamon county, he had driven out from Spring- 
field in company with a political opponent to engage in joint 
debate. The carriage, it seems, belonged to his opponent. In 
addressing the gathering of farmers that met them, Lincoln 
was lavish in praise of the generosity of his friend. "I am 
too poor to own a carriage," he said, "but my friend has gen- 
erously invited me to ride with him. I want you to vote for 
me if you will ; but if not then vote for my opponent, for he 
is a fine man." His extravagant and persistent praise of his 
opponent appealed to the sense of humor in his rural au- 
dience, to whom his inability to own a carriage was by 
no means a disqualification. 

The election came off in August, and resulted in the choice 
of a delegation from Sangamon County famous in the annals 
of Illinois. The nine successful candidates were Abraham 
Lincoln, John Dawson, Daniel Stone, Ninian W. Edwards, 
William F. Elkins, R. L. Wilson, Andrew McCormick, Job 
Fletcher, and Arthur Herndon. Each one of these men was 
over six feet in height, their combined stature being, it is 
said, fifty-five feet. "The Long Nine" was the name Sanga- 
mon County gave them. 

As soon as the election was over Lincoln occupied himself 
in settling another matter, of much greater moment. He went 
to Springfield to seek admission to the bar. The "roll of at- 
torneys and counsellors at law," on file in the office of the 



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IfACSlMILE OF « MAP OF AI.BANV, ILL., MADE BY LINCOLN. 



132 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

clerk of the Supreme Court of Springfield, Illinois, shows 
that his license was dated September 9, 1836, and that the 
date of the enrollment of his name upon the official list was 
March i, 1837. The first case in which he was concerned, as 
far as we know, was that of Hawthorne against Woolridge, 
He made his first appearance in court in October, 1836. 

Although he had given much time during this year to poli- 
tics and the law, he had by no means abandoned surv^eymg. 
Indeed he never had more calls. The grandiose scheme of 
internal improvements initiated the winter before had stimu- 
lated speculation and Lincoln frequently was obliged to be 
away for three and four weeks at a time, laying out new 
towns or locating new roads. 

Every such trip added to his political capital. Such was 
his reputation throughout the country that when he got a 
job, says the Hon. J. M. Ruggles, a friend and political sup- 
porter, there was a picnic and jolly time in the neighbor- 
hood. Men and boys gathered from far and near, ready to 
carry chain, drive stakes, and blaze trees, if they could only 
hear Lincoln's odd stories and jokes. The fun was inter- 
spersed with foot races and wrestling matches. To this day 
the old settlers in many a place of central Illinois repeat the 
incidents of Lincoln's sojourns in their neighborhood while 
surveying their town. 

In December Lincoln put away his surveying instruments 
to go to Vandalia for the opening session of the Tenth As- 
sembly Larger by fifty members than its predecessor, this 
body was as much superior in intellect a? in numbers. It in- 
cluded among its members a future Prcsiuenu ui the United 
States, a future candidate for the same high office, six future 
United States Senators, eight future members of the Na- 
tional House of Representatives, a future Secretary of the 
Interior, and three future Judges of the State Supreme Court. 
Here sat side by side Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. 



FIRST PUBLISHED ADDRESS 133 

Douglas; Edward Dickinson Baker, who represented at dif- 
ferent times the States of Illinois and Oregon in the national 
councils; O. H. Browning, a prospective senator and future 
cabinet officer, and William L. D. Ewing, who had just 
served in the senate; John Logan, father of the late General 
John A. Logan ; Robert M. Cullom, father of Senator Shelby 
M. Cullom; John A. McClernand, afterwards member of 
congress for many years, and a distinguished general in the 
late civil war; and many others of national repute. 

The members came to Vandalia full of hope and exulta- 
tion. In their judgment it needed only a few months of leg- 
islation to put their State by the side of New York ; and 
from the opening of the session they were overflowing with 
excitement and schemes. In the general ebullition of spirits 
which characterized the assembly, Lincoln had little share. 
Only a w-eek after the opening of the session he wrote to a 
friend, Mary Owens, at New^ Salem, that he had been ill, 
though he believed himself to be about well then; and he 
added: "But that, with other things I cannot account for, 
have conspired, and have gotten my spirits so low that I feel 
I would rather be any place in the world than here. I really 
cannot endure the thought of staying here ten weeks." 

Though depressed, he was far from being inactive. The 
Sangamon delegation, in fact, had its hands full, and to no 
one of the nine had more been entrusted than to Lincoln. In 
common with almost every delegation, they had been in- 
structed by their constituents to adopt a scheme of internal 
improvements complete enough to give every budding town 
in Illinois easy communication with the world. This for the 
State in general: for Sangamon County in particular, they 
had been directed to secure the capital. The change in the 
State's centre of population made it advisal)le to move the 
seat of government northward from Vandalia, and Spring- 
field was anxious to secure it. To Lincoln was entrusted the 



134 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

work of putting through the bill to remove the capital In 
the same letter quoted from above he tells Miss Owens : "Our 
chance to take the seat of government to Springfield is bet- 
ter than I expected." Regarding the internal improvements 
scheme he feels less confident: "Some of the legislature are 
for it, and some against; which has the majority, I cannot 
tell." 

It was not long, however, before all uncertainty about in- 
ternal improvements was over. The people were determined 
to have them, and the assembly responded to their demands 
by passing an act which provided, at State expense, for rail- 
roads, canals, or river improvements in almost every county 
in Illinois. No finer bit of imaginative work was ever done, 
in fact, by a legislative body, than the map of internal im- 
provements laid out by the Tenth Assembly. 

With splendid disdain of town settlements and resources 
they ran the railroads into the counties they thought ought 
to be opened up, and if there was no terminus they laid out 
one. They improved the rivers and they dug canals, they 
built bridges and drained the swamps, they planned to make 
the waste places blossom and to people the forests with men. 
This project was to benefit every hamlet of the State, said its 
defenders, and to compensate the counties which were not to 
have railroads or canals they voted them a sum of money for 
roads and bridges. 

There was no time to estimate exactly the cost of these 
fine plans. Nor did they feel any need of estimates; that 
was a mere matter of detail. They would vote a fund, and 
when that was exhausted they would vote more ; and st) they 
appropriated sum after sum : one hundred thousand dollars 
to improve the Rock river; one million eight hundred thou- 
sand dollars to l)uild a road from Ouincy to Danville; four 
million dollars to complete the Illinois and Michigan Canal; 
two hundred and fifty thousand for the Western Mail Route 



136 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

— in all, some twelve million dollars. To carry out the elab» 
orate scheme, they provided a commission, one of the first 
duties of which was to sell the bonds of the State to raise the 
money for the enterprise. The majority of the assembly 
seem not to have entertained for a moment an idea that there 
would be any difficulty in selling at a premium the bonds of 
Illinois. "On the contrary," says General Linder, in his 
"Reminiscences," "the enthusiastic friends of the measure 
maintained that, instead of there being any difficulty in ob- 
taining a loan of the fifteen or twenty millions authorized to 
be borrowed, our bonds would go like hot cakes, and be 
sought for by the Rothschilds, and Baring Brothers, and 
others of that stamp ; and that the premiums which we would 
obtain upon them would range from fifty to one hundred per 
cent., and that the premium itself would be sufficient to con- 
struct niost of the important works, leaving the principal sum 
to go into our treasury, and leave the people free from taxa- 
tion for years to come." 

The scheme was carried without difficulty and the work 
of raising money and of grading road-beds began almost 
simultaneously. All of this seems insane enough to-day, 
knowing as we do that it ended in panic and bankruptcy, in 
deserted road-beds and unpaid bills, but at that time the 
measure seemed to the legislature only the enterprise which 
the prospects of the country demanded. Illinois was not alone 
in confidence and recklessness. Her folly was that of the 
whole country. Never had there been a period of rasher 
speculation and inflation. The entire debt of the country had 
been paid, and a great income was pouring in on the federal 
government. Tlie completion of certain great works like the 
Erie Canal had stimulated trade, and greatly increased the 
value of lands. Every variety of industry was succeeding. 
Capital was pouring in from Europe which seemed dazzled 
at the thought of a nation free from debt with a revenue so 



FIRST PUBLISHED ADDRESS I37 

great that she was forced to distribute it quarterly to her 
States as the United States began to do in January, 1837. An 
exaggerated conhdence in regard tu tlie future of the country 
possessed both foreign and domestic capitahst. Credit was 
practically unlimited, "Debt was the road to wealth" and men 
could realize millions on the wildest schemes. Little wonder 
that Lincoln and his associates, ignorant of the history of 
finance and governed as they were by popular opinion, fell 
into the delusion of the day and sought to found a State on 
credit. 

Although Lincoln favored and aided in every way the 
plan for internal improvements, his real work was in secur- 
ing the removal uf the capital to Springfield. The task was 
by no means an easy one to direct, for outside of the "Long- 
Nine" there was, of course, nobody particularly interested in 
Springfield, and there were delegations from a dozen other 
counties hot to secure the capital for their own constituencies. 
It took patient and clever manipulation to put the bill 
through. Certain votes Lincoln, no doubt, gained for his 
cause by force of his personal qualities. Thus Jesse K. Du- 
bois says that he and his colleagues voted for the bill because 
they liked Lincoln and wanted to oblige him ; but probably 
the majority he won by skillful log-rolling. The very few 
letters written by him at this time which have been preserved 
show this; for instance a letter to John Bennett in which he 
says: 

" Mr. Edwards tells me you wish to know whether the act 
to which your town incorporation provision was attached 
passed into a law. It did. You can organize under the gen- 
eral incorporation law' as soon as you choose. 

"I also tacked a provision on to a fellow's bill, to authorize 
the relocation of the road from Salem down to your town, 
but I am not certain whether or not the bill passed. Neither 
do I suppose I can ascertain before the law will be published 
■ — if it is a law." 



138 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

There is nothing in his correspondence, however, to show 
that he ever sacrihced his principles in these trades. Every- 
thing we know of his transactions are indeed to the contrary. 
General T. H. Henderson, of Illinois, says in his reminis- 
cences of Lincoln : 

" Before I had ever seen Abraham Lincoln I heard my 
father, who served with him in the legislature of 1838-39 and 
of 1840-41, relate an incident in Mr. Lincoln's life which 
illustrates his character for integrity and his firmness in 
maintaining wdiat he regarded as right in his public acts, in 
a marked manner. 

" I do nut remember whether this incident occurred during 
the session of the legislature in 1836-37 or 1838-39. But I 
think it was in that of 1836-37, when it was said that there 
was a great deal of log-rolling going on among the meml)ers. 
But, however that may be, according to the story related by 
my father, an effort was made to unite the friends of capital 
removal with the friends of some measure which Mr. Lin- 
coln, for some reason, did not approve. What that measure 
was to w^hich he objected, I am not now able to recall. But 
those who desired the removal of the capital to Springfield 
were very anxious to effect the proposed ccMubination, and a 
meeting was held to see if it could be accomplished. The 
meeting continued in session nearly all night, when it ad- 
journed without accomplishing anything, Mr. Lincoln re- 
fusing 1'. • yield Iris objections and to sup])ort the ()1)noxi()US 
measure. 

Anotlier meeting was called, and at this second meeting 
a number of citizens, not members of the legislature, from 
the central and northern ])arts of the State, among them my 
father, were i)resent by invitation. The meeting was long 
protracted, and earnest in its deliberations. Every argument 
that could be thought of was used to induce Mr. Lincoln to 
yield his objections and unite with his friends, and thus se- 
cure the removal of the capital to his own city; but without 
effect. Finally, after midnight, when everybody seemed ex- 
hausted with the discussion, and when the candles were burn- 
ing low in the room, Mr. Lincoln rose amid the silence and 



FIRST PUBLISHED ADDRESS 139 

solemnity which prevailed, and, my father said, made one of 
the most elofjuent and powerful speeches to which he had 
ever listened. He concluded his remarks by saying-: 
'You may burn my body to ashes, and scatter them to the 
winds of heaven ; you may drag my soul down to the regions 
of darkness and despair to be tormented forever; but you 
will ne\'er get me to support a measure which I believe to be 
wrong, although by doing so I may accomplish that which 
I believe to be right.' And the meeting adjourned." 

As was to be expected, the Democrats charged that the 
Whigs of Sangamon had won their victory by "bargain and 
corruption." These charges l)ecame so serious that, in an 
extra session called in the summer of 1837, a few months 
after the bill passed. Lincoln had a bitter fight over them 
with General L. D. Ewing, who wanted to keep the capital at 
Vandalia. "The arrogance of Spring^eld," said General 
Ewing, "its presumption in claiming the seat of government, 
is not to be endured ; the law has been passed by chicanery 
and trickery ; the Springfield delegation has sold out to the 
internal improvement men, and has promised its support to 
every measure that would gain a vote to the law removing 
the seat of government." 

Lincoln answered in a speech of such severity and keen- 
ness that the House believed he was "digging his own 
grave," for Ewing was a higli-spirited man who would not 
hesitate to answer by a challenge. It was, in fact, only the 
interference of their friends which prevented a duel at this 
time between Ewing and Lincoln. This speech, to many of 
Lincoln's colleagues, was a revelation of his ability and char- 
acter. "This was the first time," said General Linder, "that 
I began to conceive a very high opinion of the talents and 
personal courage of Abraham Lincoln." 

A few months later the "Long Nine" were again attacked, 
Lincoln specially being abused. The assailant this time was 



I40 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

a prominent Democrat, Mr. J. B. Thomas. When he had 
ended, Lincoln repHed in a speech which was long known in 
local political circles as the "skinning of Thomas." 

No one doubted after this that Lincoln could defend him- 
self. He became doubly respected as an c>pponent, for his 
reputation for good-humored raillery had already been estab- 
lished in his campaigns. In a speech made in January he 
gave another evidence of his skill in the use of ridicule. A 
resolution had been offered by Mr. Linder to institute an in- 
quiry into the management of the affairs of the State bank. 
Lincoln's remarks on the resolution form his first reported 
speech. He began his remarks by good-humored but net- 
tling chaffing of his opponent. 

"Mr. Chairman," he said. "Lest I should fall into the too 
common error of being mistaken in regard to which side I de- 
sign to be upon, I shall make it my first care to remove all 
doubt on that point, by declaring that I am opposed to the 
resolution under consideration, iu toto. Before I proceed to 
the body of the subject, I will further remark, that it is not 
without a considerable degree of apprehension that I venture 
to cross the track of the gentleman from Coles (Mr. Linder). 
Indeed, I do not believe I could muster a sufficiency of cour- 
age to come in contact with that gentleman, were it not for 
the fact that he, some days since, most graciously conde- 
scended to assure us that he would never be found wasting 
ammunition on small i^aiur. On the same fortunate ncca- 
sion he further gave us to understand that he regarded hiui- 
sclf as being decidedly the superior of our common friend 
from Randolph (Mr. Shields) ; and feeling, as I really do, 
that I, to say the most of myself, am nothing more than the 
peer of our friend from Randolph, I shall regard the gentle- 
man from Coles as decidedly mv superior also; and conse- 
quently, in the course of what I shall have t(^ say, whenever 
I shall have (Kcasion to allude to that gentleman T shall en- 
deavor to adopt that kind of court language which I under- 
stand to be due to decided superiority. In one faculty, at 
least, there can be no dispute of the gentlepTan's superiority 



FIRST PUBLISHED ADDRESS 14I 

over me, and most other men ; and that is, the faculty of en- 
tangling a subject so that neither himself, or any other man, 
can find head or tail to it." 

Taking up the resolution on the bank, he declared its 
meaning : 

"Some gentlemen have their stock in their hands, while 
others, who liave more money than they know what to do 
with, want it ; and this, and this alone, is the question, to set- 
tle which we are called on to squander thousands of the peo- 
ple's money. What interest, let me ask, have the people in 
the settlement of this question? What difference is it to 
them whether the stock is owned by Judge Smith or Sam 
Wiggins? If any gentleman be entitled to stock in the bank, 
which he is kept out of possession of by others, let him as- 
sert his right in the Supreme Court, and let him or his an- 
tagonist, whichever may be found in the wrong, pay the 
costs of suit. It is an old maxim, and a very sound one, that 
he that dances should always pay the fiddler. Now, sir, in 
the present case, if any gentlemen whose money is a burden 
to them, choose to lead of¥ a dance, I am decidedly opposed 
to the people's money being used to pay the fiddler. No one 
can doubt that the examination proposed by this resolution 
must cost the State some ten or twelve thousand dollars ; and 
all this to settle a question in which the people have no in- 
terest, and about which they care nothing. These capitalists 
generally act harmoniously and in concert to fleece the peo- 
ple; and now that they have got into a quarrel with them- 
selves, we are called upon to appropriate the people's money 
to settle the quarrel." 

The resolution had declared that the bank practised 
various methods which were "to the great injury of the peo- 
ple." Lincoln took the occasion to announce his ideas of the 
people and the politicians. 

"If the bank really be a grievance, why is it that no one of 
the real people is found to ask redress of it ? The truth is, no 
such oppression exists. If it did, our people would groan 
with memorials and petitions, and we would not be permitted 



14.2 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

to rest day or night till we had put it down. The people 
know their rights, and they arc never slow to assert and 
maintain them when they are invaded. Let them call for an 
investigation, and I shall ever stand ready to respond to the 
call. But they have made no such call. 1 make the assertion 
boldly, and without fear of contradiction, that no man who 
does not hold an office, or does not aspire to one, has ever 
found any fault of the bank. It has doubled the prices of the 
products of their farms, and filled their pockets with a sound 
circulating medium; and they are all well pleased with its 
operations. No, sir, it is the politician who is the first to 
sound the alarm (which, by the way, is a false one). It is 
he who, by these unholy means, is endeav^oring to blow up a 
storm that he may ride upon and direct. It is he, and he 
alone, that here })roposes to spend thousands of the people's 
public treasure, for no other advantage to them than to make 
valueless in their ])ockets the reward of their industry. Mr. 
Chairman, this work is exclusively the work of politicians — 
a set of men who have interests aside from the interests of 
the people, and who, to say the most of them, are, taken as a 
mass, at least one step removed from honest men. I say this 
with the greater freedom, because, being a politician myself, 
none can regard it as personal." 

The speech w-as pul)lished in full in the "Sangamon Jour- 
naT' for Jan. 28, 1837, '^''•^^ ^^'^^ editor commented : 

" Mr. Lincoln's remarks on Mr. Linder's bank resolution 
in the paper are cpiite to the ])r)int. Our friend carries the 
true Kentucky rifle, and when he fires he seldom fails of 
sending the shot home." 

One other act of his in this session cannot be ignored. It 
is a sinister note in the hopeful chorus of the Tenth Assem- 
bly. For months there had come from the southern States 
violent protests against the growth of abolition agitation in 
the North. Garrison's paper, the " infernal Liberator," as it 
was called in the pro-slavery part of the country, had been 
gradually extending its circulation and its influence: and it 
already had imitators even on the banks of the Mississippi. 



FIRST PUBLISHED ADDRESS I43 

The American Anti-slavery Society was now over three 
years old. A deep, unconquerable conviction of the inicjuity 
of slavery was spreading through the North. The South felt 
it and protested, and the statesmen of the North joined them 
in their protest. Slavery could not be crushed, said the con- 
servatives. It was sanctioned by the Constitution. The 
South must be supported in its claims, and agitation stopped. 
But the agitation went on, and riots, violence, and hatred 
pursued the agitators. In Illinois, in this very year, 1837, we 
have a printing-office raided and an anti-slavery editor, 
Elijah Lovejoy, killed by the citizens of Alton, who were de- 
termined that it should not be said among them that slavery 
was an iniquity. 

To silence the storm, mass-meetings of citizens, the United 
States Congress, the State legislatures, took up the question 
and again and again voted resolutions assuring the South 
that the Abolitionists were not supported; that the country 
recognized their right to their " peculiar institution," and 
that in no case should they 1)e interfered with. At Spring- 
field, this same year ( 1837) the citizens convened and passed 
a resolution declaring that "the efforts of Abolitionists in this 
community are neither necessary nor useful." When the riot 
occured in Alton, the Springfield i)apers uttered no word 
of condemnation, giving the affair only a laconic mention. 

The Illinois Assembly joined in the general disapproval, 
and on March 3d passed the following resolutions : 

" Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of 
Illinois : 

" That we highly disapprove of the formation of Abolitlor. 
societies, and of the doctrines promulgated by them. 

"That the right of property in slaves is sacred to the 
slave-holding States by the Federal Constitution, and thai 
they cannot be deprived of that right without their consent. 

" That the General Government cannot abolish slavery in 



144 J-IFE OF LINCOLN 

the District of Columbia against the consent of the citizens oi 
said District, witiiout a manifest breach of good faith. 

" That the governor be requested to transmit to the States 
of Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, New York and Connecti- 
cut a copy of the foregoing report and resolutions " 

Lincoln refused to vote for these resolutions. In his judg- 
ment no expression on the slavery question should go unac- 
companied by the statement that it was an evil, and he had 
the boldness to protest immediately against the action of the 
House. He found only one man in the assembly willing to 
join him in his protest. These two names are joined to the 
document they presented : 

" Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having 
passed both branches of the General Assembly at its present 
session, the undersigned hereby protest against the passage 
of the same. 

" They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on 
both injustice and bad policy, but that the promulgation of 
abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate its 
evils. 

" They believe that the Congress of the United States has 
no power under the Constitution to interfere with the institu- 
tion of slavery in the different States. 

" They believe that the Congress of the United States has 
the ])(nver under the Constitution, to abolish slavery in the 
District of Columbia, but that the power ought not to be ex- 
ercised, unless at the request of the people of the District. 

" The difference between these opinions and those con- 
tained in the resolutions is their reason for entering this pro- 
test. " Dan Stone, 

" A. Lincoln^ 

" Representatives from the County of Sangamon." 

The Tenth Assembly gave TJncoln an opportunity to show 
his ability as a political manceuvrer, his power as a speaker, 
and his courage in opposing what seemed to him wrong. 



FIRST PUBLISHED ADDRESS 145 

There had never been a session of the assembly when the 
members had the chance to make so wide an impression. The 
character of the legislation on foot had called to Vandalia 
numbers of persons of influence from almost every part of 
the State. They were invariably there to secure something 
for their town or county, and naturally made a point of learn- 
ing all they could of the members and of getting as well ac- 
quainted with them as circumstances allowed. Game suppers 
seem to have been the means usually employed by visitors for 
bringing people together, and Lincoln became a favorite 
guest not only because he was necessary to the success of al- 
most any measure, but because he was so jovial a companion. 
It was then that he laid the foundation of his extensive ac- 
quaintance throughout the State which in after years stood 
him in excellent stead. 

The lobbyists were not the only ones in Vandalia who 
gave suppers, however. Not a bill was passed nor an election 
decided that a banquet did not follow. Mr. John Bryant, the 
brother of William Cullen, was in Vandalia that winter in 
the interest of his county, and he attended one of these ban- 
quets, given by the successful candidate for the United States 
Senate. Lincoln was present, of course, and so were all the 
prominent politicians of the State. 

"After the company had gotten pretty noisy and mellow 
from their imbibitions of Yellow Seal and 'corn juice.' " says 
Mr. Bryant, "Mr. Douglas and General Shields, to the con- 
sternation of the host and intense merriment of the guests, 
climbed up on the table, at one end, encircled each other's 
waists, and to the tune of a rollicking song, pirouetted down 
the whole length of the table, shouting, singing, and kick- 
ing dishes, glasses, and everything right and left, belter skel- 
ter. For this night of entertainment to his constituents, the 
successful candidate was presented with a l)ill, in the morn- 
ing, for supper, wines, licjuors, and damages, which 
amounted to six hundred dollars." 



146 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

But boisterous suppers were not by any means the only 
feature of Lincoln's social life that winter in Vandalia. There 
was another and quieter side in which he showed his rare 
companionableness and endeared himself to many people. In 
the midst of the log-rolling and jubilations of the session he 
would often slip away to some acquaintance's room and 
spend hours in talk and stories. Mr. John Bryant tells of his 
coming frequently to his room at the hotel, and sitting "With 
his knees up to his chin, telling his inimitable stories and his 
triumphs in the House in circumventing the Democrats." 

Major Newton Walker, of Lewiston, who was in Vandalia 
at the time, says : "I used to play the fiddle a great deal and 
have played for Lincoln a number of times. He used to come 
over to where I was boarding and ask me to play, and I 
would take the fiddle with me vvhen I went over to visit him, 
and when he grew weary of telling stories he would ask me 
to give him a tune, which I never refused to do." 



CHAPTER X 

1.INC0LN BEGINS TO STUDY LAW MARY OWENS A NEWS- 
PAPER CONTEST GROWTH OF POLITICAL INFLUENCE 

As soon as the assembly closed, Lincoln returned to New 
Salem ; but not to stay. He had determined to go to Spring- 
field. Major John Stuart, the friend who had advised him 
to study law and who had lent him books and with whom he 
had been associated closely in politics, had offered to take 
him as a partner. It was a good opening, for Stuart was one 
of the leading lawyers and politicians of the State, and his in- 
fluence would place Lincoln at once in command of more or 
less business. From every point of view the change seems to 
have been wise ; yet Lincoln made it with foreboding. 

To practise law he must abandon his business as surveyor, 
which was bringing him a fair income; he must for a time, 
at least, go without a certain income. If he failed, what 
then ? The uncertainty v^eighed on him heavily, the more so 
because he was burdened by the debts left from his store and 
because he was constantly called upon to aid his father's fam- 
ily. Thomas Lincoln had remained in Coles Countv, but he 
had not, in these six years in which his son had risen so rap- 
idly, been able to get anything more than a poor livelihood 
from his farm. The sense of responsibility Lincoln had 
towards his father's family made it the more difficult for him 
to undertake a new profession. His decision was made, how- 
ever, and as soon as the session of the Tenth Assembly was 
over he started for Springfield. His first appearance there is 
as pathetic as amusing. 

"He had ridden into town," says Joshua Speed, "on a 
borrowed horse, with no earthly property save a pair of sad- 

147 



148 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

die-bags containing a few clothes. I was a merchant at 
Springfield, and kept a large country store, embracing dry- 
goods, groceries, hardware, books, medicines, bed-clothes, 
mattresses — in fact, everything that the country needed. Lin- 
coln came into the store with his saddle-bags on his arm. He 
said he wanted to buy the furniture for a single bed. The 
mattress, blankets, sheets, coverlid, and pillow, according to 
the figures made by me, would cost seventeen dollars. He 
said that perhaps was cheap enough ; but small as the price 
was, he was unable to pay it. But if I would credit him till 
Christmas, and his experiment as a lawyer was a success, he 
would pay then ; saying in the saddest tone, Tf I fail in this 
I do not know that I can ever pay you.' As I looked up at 
him I thought then, and I think now, that I never saw a sad- 
der face. 

"I said to him : 'You seem to be so much pained at con- 
tracting so small a debt, I think I can suggest a plan by which 
you can avoid the debt, and at the same time attain your end. 
I have a large room with a double bed upstairs, which you are 
very welcome to share with me.' 

" 'Where is your room?' said he. 

" 'Upstairs,' said I, pointing to a pair of winding stairs 
which led from the store to my room. 

"He took his saddle-bags on his arm, went upstairs, set 
them on the floor, and came down with the most changed ex- 
pression of countenance. Beaming with pleasure, he ex- 
claimed : 

" 'Well, Speed, I am moved.' " 

Another friend. \\'illiam Butler, with whom Lincoln had 
become intimate at Vandalia, took him to board ; life at 
Springfield thus l)egan under as favorable auspices as he 
could hope for. 

After Chicago, Springfield was at that day the most prom- 
ising city in Illinois. It had some fifteen hundred inhabitants, 
and the removal of the capital was certain to bring many 
more. Already, in fact, the town felt the effect. "The owner 
of real estate sees his property rapidly enhancing in value," 
declared the "Sangamon Journal;" "the merchant anticipates 



BEGINS TO STUDY LAW 149 

a large accession to our population and a corresponding addi- 
tional sale for his goods; the mechanic already has more con- 
tracts offered him for building and improvements than he 
can execute ; the farmer anticipates the growth of a large and 
important town, a market for the varied products of his 
farm; — indeed, every class of our citizens look to the future 
with confidence, that, we trust, will not be disappointed." 

The effect was apparent too, in society. "We used to eat 
all together," said an old man who in the early thirties came 
to Springfield as a hostler; "but about this time some one 
came along and told the pee)ple they oughtn't to do so, and 
then the hired folks ate in the kitchen." This differentiation 
was apparent to Lincoln and a little discouraging. He was 
thinking at the time of this removal of marrying, but he soon 
saw that it was quite out uf the question for him to support a 
wife in Springfield. 

*T am afraid you would not be satisfied," he wrote the 
young woman, " there is a great deal of flourishing about in 
carriages here, which it would be your doom to see without 
sharing it. You would have to be poor, without the means of 
hiding your poverty. Do you believe you could bear that pa- 
tiently?" 

Lincoln's idea of marrying Mary Owens, of whom he 
asked this question, was the result of a Quixotic sense of 
honor which had curiously blinded him to the girl's real feel- 
ing for him. The affair had begun in the fall of 1836, w^hen 
a woman of his acquaintance who was going to Kentucky 
on a visit, proposed laughingly to bring back a sister of hers 
on condition that Lincoln marry her. 

" I of course accepted the proposal," Lincoln wrote 
afterwards in a letter to Mrs. O. H. Browning, "for you 
know I could not have done otherwise had I really been 
averse to it; but privatelv, between vou and me, I was 



I50 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

most confoundedly well pleased with the project. I had 
seen the said sister some three years before, thought 
her intelligent and agreeable, and saw no good objec- 
tion to plodding life through hand in hand with her. Time 
passed on, the lady took her journey and in due time re- 
turned, sister in company, sure enough. This astonished me 
a little, for it appeared to me that her coming so readily 
showed that she was a trifle too willing, but on reflection it 
occurred to me that she might have been prevailed on by her 
married sister to come, without anytlnng concerning me ever 
having been mentioned to her, and so 1 concluded that if no 
other objection presented itself, 1 would consent to waive 
this." 

Another objection did present itself as soon as he saw the 
lady. He was anything but pleased with her appearance. 

"But what could I do?" he continues in his letter to Mrs. 
Browning. 'T had told her sister that I would take her for 
better or for worse, and I made a point of honor and con- 
science in all things to stick to my word, especially if others 
had been induced to act on it, which in this case I had no 
doubt they had, for I was now fairly convinced that no other 
man on earth would have her, and hence the conclusion that 
they were bent on holding me to my bargain. 'Well, thought 
I, T have said it, and, be the conset|uences what they may. it 
shall not be my fault if I fail to do it.' At once I determined 
to consider her my wife, and this done, all my powers of dis- 
covery were put to work in search of perfections in her which 
might be fairly set off against her defects. I tried to imagine 
her handsome, which, but for her unfortunate corpulency, 
was actually true. Exclusive of this, no woman that I have 
ever seen has a finer face. I also tried to convince myself that 
the mind was much more to be valued tlian the person, and 
in this she was not inferior, as I could discover, to any with 
whom I had been acquainted. 

"Shortly after this, without attempting to come to any 
positive understanding with her, I set out for Vandalia, when 
and where you first saw me. During my stay there I had let- 



BEGINS TO STUDY LAW 151 

ters from her which did not change my opinion of either her 
intellect or intention, but, on the contrary, confirmed it in 
both. 

"All this while, although I was fixed 'firm as the surge-re- 
pelling rock' in my resolution, I found I was continually re- 
penting the rashness which had led me to make it. Through 
life I have been in no bondage, either real or imaginary, from 
the thraldom of which I so much desired to be free. After 
my return home I saw nothing to change my opinion of her 
in any particular. She was the same, and so was I. I now 
spent my time in planning how I might get along in life after 
my contemplated change of circumstances should have taken 
place, and how I might procrastinate the evil day for a time, 
which I really dreaded as much, perhaps more, than an 
Irishman does the halter." 

Lincoln was in this state of mind when he went to Spring- 
field and discovered how unfit his resources were to support 
a wife there. Although he put the question of poverty so 
plainly he assured Miss Owens that if she married him he 
would do all in his power to make her happy. 

"Whatever woman may cast her lot with mine," he wrote 
her, "should any ever do so, it is my intention to do all in my 
power to make her happy and contented ; and there is noth- 
ing I can imagine that would make me more unhappy tb.in t(i 
fail in the effort. I know I should be much happier with you 
than the v/ay I am, provided I saw no signs of discontent in 
you. What you have said to me may liave been in the way 
of jest, or I may have misunderstood it. If so, then let it be 
forgotten ; if otherwise, I much wish you would think seri- 
ously before you decide. \\' hat I have said I w^ill most posi- 
tively a1)ide by, provided you wish it. My opinion is that 
you had better not do it. You have not been accustomed to 
hardship, and it may be more serious than you now imagine. 
I know you are capable of thinking correctly on any subject, 
and if you deliberate maturely upon this before you decide, 
then I am willing to abide your decision." 



^52 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

This decidedly dispassionate view of their relation seems 
not to have brought any decision from Miss Owens; for 
three months later Mr. Lincoln wrote her an equally judicial 
letter, telling her that he could not think of her " with en- 
tire indifference," that he in all cases wanted to do right and 
"most particularly so in all cases with women," and summing 
up his position as follows : 

"I now say that you can now drop the subject, dismiss 
your thoughts (if you ever had any) from me forever, and 
leave this letter unanswered, without calling forth one ac- 
cusing murmur from me. And I will even go further, and 
say that if it will add anything to your comfort or peace of 
mind to do so, it is my sincere wish that you should. Do not 
understand by this that I wish to cut your acquaintance. I 
mean no such thing. 

"What I do wish is that our further acquaintance shall de- 
pend upon yourself. If such further acquaintance would 
contribute nothing to your happiness, I am sure it would not 
to mine. If you feel yourself in any degree bound to me, I am 
now willing to release you, provided you wish it; while, on 
the other hand, I am willing and even anxious to bind you 
faster, if I can be convinced that it will, in any considerable 
degree, add to your happiness. This, indeed, is the whole 
question with me. Nothing would make me more miserable 
than to 1)elieve you miserable — nothing more happy than to 
know you were so." 

Miss Owens had enough discernment to recognize the dis- 
interestedness of this love-making, and she refused Mr. Lin- 
coln's offer. She found him "deficient in those little links 
which make up the chain of a woman's happiness," she said. 
When finally refused Lincoln wrote the letter to Mrs. Brown- 
ing- from which the above citations have been taken. He con- 
eluded it with an account of the effect on himself of Miss 
Owens' refusal: 

" I was mortified, it seemed to me, in a hundred different 
ways. My vanity was deeolv wounded by the reflection that 



BEGINS TO STUDY LAW 153 

I had so long been too stupid to discover her intentions, and 
at the same time never dou1)ting that I understood them per- 
fectly; and also that she. whom I had taught myself to be- 
lieve nobody else would have, had actually rejected me with 
all my fancied greatness. And, to cap the whole, I then for 
the first time began to suspect that I was really a little in love 
with her. But let it all go ! Til try and outlive it. Others 
have been made fools of by the girls, but this can never with 
truth be said of me. I most emphatically, in this instance, 
made a fool of myself. I have now come to the conclusion 
never again to think of marrying, and for this reason — I can 
never be satisfied with any one who would be blockhead 
enough to have me." 

The skill, the courage, and the good-will Lincoln had 
shown in his management of the bill for the removal of the 
capital gave him at once a position in Springfield. The entire 
"Long Nine," indeed, were regarded by the county as its 
benefactors, and throughout the summer there were barbe- 
cues and fireworks, dinners and speeches in their honor. "The 
service rendered Old Sangamon by the present delegation" 
was a continually recurring toast at every gathering. At one 
"sumptuous dinner" the internal improvement scheme in all 
its phases was toasted again and again by the banqueters. 
" 'The Long Nine' of Old Sangamon — well done, good and 
faithful servants," drew^ forth long applause. Among those 
who offered volunteer toasts at this dinner were "A. Lincoln, 
Esq.," and "S. A. Douglas, Esq." 

At a dinner at Athens, given to the delegation, eight for- 
mal toasts and twenty-five volunteers are quoted in the re- 
port of the affair in the "Sangamon Journal." Among them 
were the following : 

A. Lincoln. He has fulfilled the expectations of his 
friends and disappointed the hopes of his enemies. 
A. Lincoln. One of nature's noblemen. 
By A. Lincoln. Sanp-amon County will ever be true to her 




it 

o 

fa 

Z. 

o 
o 

z, 



ID 

n 
>. 

« 

o 

d 



M 



BEGINS TO STUDY LAW 155 

best interests, and never more so than in reciprocating the 
good feehngs of the citizens of Athens and neighborhood. 

Lincoln had not been long in Springheld before he was 
able to support himself from his law practice, a result due, no 
doubt, very largely to his personal qualities and to his repu- 
tation as a shrewd politician. Not that he made money. The 
fee-book of Lincoln and Stuart shows that the returns were 
modest enough, and that sometimes they even "traded nut" 
their account. Nexertheless it was a satisfactiou to earn a 
livelihuod so soon. Of his ]jeculiar methods as a lawyer at 
this date we know very little. Most of his cases are utterly 
uninteresting. The very hrst year he was in S^jringfield, 
however, he had one case which created a sensation, and 
which is an admirable exami)le of the way he could combine 
business and politics as well as of his merciless persistency in 
pursuing a man whom he believed unjust. 

It seems that among the olhces to be filled at the August 
election of 1837 was that of probate justice of the peace. One 
of the candidates was General James Adams, a man who had 
come on from the East in the early twenties, and who had at 
first claimed to be a lawyer. He had been an aspirant for 
various offices, among them that of governor of the State, 
but with little success. A few days before the August elec- 
tion of 1837 an anonymous hand-bill was scattered aljout the 
streets. It was an attack on General Adams, charging him 
w itli having acquired the title to a ten-acre lot of ground near 
the town by the deliberate forgery of the name of Joseph An- 
derson, of Fulton County, Illinois, to an assignment of a 
judgment. Anderson had died, and his widow, going to 
Springfield to dispose of the land, had been surprised to find 
that it was claimed by General Adams. She had employed 
Stuart and Lincoln to look into the matter. The hand-bill, 
which went into all of the details at great length, concluded 
as follows: 'T have only made these statements because I 



!56 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

am known by many to be one of the individuals against 
whom the charge of forging the assignment and slipping it 
into the general's papers has been made; and because our si- 
lence might be construed into a confession of the truth. I 
shall not subscribe my name; but hereby authorize the editor 
of the 'Journal' to give it up to any one who may call for it." 

After the election, at which General Adams was successful, 
the hand-bill was reproduced in the "Sangamon Journal," 
with a card signed by the editor, in which he said : "To save 
any further remarks on this subject, I now state that A. Lin- 
coln, Esq., is the author of the hand-bill in question." The 
same issue of the paper contained a lengthy communication 
from General Adams, denying the charge of fraud. 

The controversy was continued for several weeks in the 
newspapers. General Adams often filling six columns of a 
single issue of the "Springfield Republican." 

He charged that the assault upon him was the result of a 
conspiracy between "a knot of lawyers, doctors, and others," 
who wished to ruin his reputation. Lincoln's answers to 
Adams are most emphatic. In one case, quoting several of 
his assertions, he pronounced them "all as false as hell, as 
all this community must know." Adams's replies were al- 
ways voluminous. "Such is the turn which things have lately 
taken," wrote Lincoln, "that when General Adams writes a 
book I am expected to v.rite a commentary on it." Replying 
to Adams's denunciation of the lawyers, he said : "He at- 
tempted to impose himself upon the community as a lawyer, 
and he actually carried the attempt so far as to induce a man 
who was under the charge of murder to entrust the defence 
of his life to his hands, and finally took his money and got 
him hanged. Is this the man that is to raise a breeze in his 
favor by abusing lawyers? ... If he is not a lawyer, 
he is a bar; for he proclaimed himself a lawyer, and got a 
man hanged by depending on him." Lincoln concluded: 



BEGINS TO STUDY LAW 157 

"Farewell, General. I will see you again at court, if not be- 
fore — when and where we will settle the question whether 
you or the widow shall have the land."' The widow did get 
the land, but this was not the worst thing that happened to 
Adams. The climax was reached when the "Sangamon Jour- 
nal" published a long editorial (written by Lincoln, no 
doubt) on the controversy, and followed it with a copy of an 
indictment found against Adams in Oswego County, New 
York, in 1818. The offence charged in this indictment was 
the forgery of a deed by Adams — "a person of evil name and 
fame and of a wicked disposition." 

Lincoln's victory in this controversy undoubtedly did 
much to impress the community, not necessarily that he was 
a good lawyer, but rather that he was a clever strategist and 
a fearless enemy. It was not, in fact, as a lawyer that he was 
prominent in the first years after he came to Springfield. It 
was as a politician. The place he had taken among the lead- 
ers of the Whig party in the winter of 1836 and 1837 he 
easily kept. The qualities which he had shown from the out- 
start of his public life were only strengthened as he gained 
experience and self-confidence. He was the terror of the pre- 
tentious and insincere, and had a way of exposing their 
shams by clever tricks which were unanswerable arguments. 
Thus, it was considered necessary, at that day, by a candi- 
date to prove to the farmers that he was poor and, like them- 
selves, horny-handed. Those politicians who wore good 
clothes and dined sumptuously were careful to conceal their 
regard for the elegancies of life from their constituents. 
One of the Democrats who in this period took particu- 
lar pains to decry the Whigs for their wealth and 
aristocratic principles w'as Colonel Dick Taylor, gen- 
erally known in Illinois as "ruftled-shirt Taylor." He 
was a vain and handsome man, who habitually ar- 
rayed himself as gorgeously as the fashion allowed. 



158 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

One day when he and Lincoln had met in debate at a coun- 
tryside gathering, Colonel Dick became particularly bitter 
in his condemnation of Whig elegance. Lincoln listened for 
a time, and then, slipping near the speaker, suddenly caught 
his coat, which was buttoned up close, and tore it open. A 
mass of ruffled shirt, a gorgeous velvet vest, and a great gold 
chain from which dangled numerous rings and seals, were 
uncovered to the crowd. Lincoln needed to make no further 
reply tnat day to the charge of being a ''rag baron." 

Lincoln loved fair play as he hated shams ; and through- 
out these early years in Springfield boldl}' insisted that 
friend and enemy have the chance due them. A dram- 
atic case of this kind occurred at a political meeting 
held one evening in the Springfield court-room, which at 
that date was temporarily in a hall under Stuart and Lin- 
coln's law office. Directly over the platform was a trap-door. 
Lincoln frequently would lie by this opening during a meet- 
ing, listening to the speeches. One evening one of his 
friends, E. D. Baker, in speaking angered the crowd, and an 
attempt was made to "pull him down." Before the assailants 
could reach the platform, however, a pair of long legs 
dangled from the trap-door, and in an instant Lincoln 
dropped down beside Baker, crying out, "Hold on, gentle- 
men, this is a land of free speech." His appearance was so 
unexpected, and his attitude so determined, that the crowd 
soon was quiet, and Baker went on with his speech. 

Lincoln did not take a prominent place in his party 
because the Whigs lacked material. He had powerful 
rivals. Edward Dickinson Baker, Colonel John J. Har- 
din, John T. Stuart, Ninian W. Edwards, Jesse K. 
Dubois, O. IT. Browning, were but a few of the brilliant 
men w'ho were throwing all their ability and ambition into 
the contest for political honors in tlie State. Nor were the 
Whigs a whit superior to the Democrats. William L. D. Ew- 



BEGINS TO STUDY LAW 159 

ing, Ebenezer Peck, William Thomas, James Shields, John 
Calhoun, were in every respect as able as the best men of the 
Whig party. Indeed, one of the prominent Democrats with 
whom Lincoln came often in contact, was popularly regarded 
as the most brilliant and promising politician of the State — 
Stephen A. Douglas. His record had been phenomenal. He 
had amazed both parties, in 1834, by securing the appoint- 
ment by the legislature to the office of State Attorney for the 
first judicial circuit, over John J. Hardin. In 1836 he had 
been elected to the legislature, and although he was at that 
time but twenty-three years of age, he had shown himself one 
of the most vig'orous, capa])]e, and intelligent members. In- 
deed, Douglas's work in the Tenth Assembly gave him about 
the same position in the Democratic party of the State at 
large that Lincoln's work in the same body gave him in the 
Whig party of his own district. In 1837 he had had no diffi- 
culty in being appointed register of the land office, a position 
which compelled him to make his home in Springfield. It 
was only a few months after Lincoln rode into town, all his 
earthly possessions in a pair of saddle-bags, that Douglas ap- 
peared. Llandsome, polished, and always with an air (^f pros- 
perity, the advent of the young Democratic official w^as in 
striking contrast to that of the sad-eyed, ill-clad, poverty- 
stricken young lawyer from New Salem. 

From the first, Lincoln and Douglas were thrown con- 
stantly together in the social life of the town, and often 
pitted against each other in what were the real forums of the 
State at that day — the space arountl the huge "Franklin" 
stove of some obliging store-keeper, the steps of somebody's 
law office, a pile of lumber, or a long timber, lying in the pub- 
lic square, where the new State-house was going up. 

In the fall of 1837 Douglas was nominated for Congress 
on the Democratic ticket. His Whig opponent was Lincoln's 
law partner, John T. Stuart. The campaign which the two 



lOO LIFE OF LINCOLN 

conducted was one of the most remarkable in the history of 
the State. For five months of the spring and summer of 1838 
they rode together from town to town all over the northern 
part of Illinois (Illinois at that time was divided into but 
three congressional districts; the third, in which Sangamon 
county was included, being made up of the twenty-two north- 
ernmost counties) , speaking six days out of seven. When the 
election came off in August, 1838, out of thirty-six thousand 
votes cast, Stuart received a majority of only fourteen ; but 
even that majority the Democrats always contended was won 
unfairly. 

The campaign was watched with intense interest by the 
young politicians of Springfield ; no one of them felt a 
deeper interest in it than Lincoln, who was himself a candi- 
date for the State legislature, and who was spending a great 
deal of his time in electioneering. 

As the campaign of 1840 approached Lincoln was more 
and more frequently pitted against Douglas. He had by this 
time no doubt learned something of the power of the "Little 
Giant," as Douglas was already called. Certainly no man in 
public life between 1837 and i860 had a greater hold on his 
followers. The reasons for this grasp are not hard to find. 
Douglas was by nature buoyant, enthusiastic, impetuous. He 
had that sunny boyishness which is so irresistible to young 
and old. With it he had great natural eloquence. When his 
deep, rich voice rolled out fervid periods in support of the 
sub-treasury and the convention system, or in opposition to 
internal improvements by the federal government, the people 
applauded out of sheer joy at the pleasure of hearing him. 
He was one of the few men in Illinois whom the epithet of 
"Yankee" never hurt. He might be a Yankee, but when he 
sat down on the knee of some surly lawyer, and confidentially 
told him his plans ; or, at a political meeting, took off his coat, 



BEGINS TO STUDY LAW l6l 

and rolled up his sleeves, and "pitched into" his opponent, 
the sons of Illinois forgot his origin in love for the man. 

Lincoln undoubtedly understood the charm of Douglas, 
and realized his power. But he already had an insight into 
one of his political characteristics that few people recognized 
at that day. In writing to Stuart in 1839, while the latter 
was attending Congress, Lincoln said: "Douglas has not 
becu here since you left. A report is in circulation here now 
thai he has abandoned the idea of going to Washington, 
thoiJgh the report does not come in a very authentic form, so 
far c'lS I can learn. Though. l)y the way, speaking of authen- 
ticity, you know that if we had heard Douglas say that he 
had abandoned the contest, it would not be very authentic." 

At that time the local issues, which had formerly engaged 
Illinois candidates almost entirely, were lost sight of in na- 
tional questions. In Springfield, where the leaders of l)oth 
parties were living, many hot debates were held in 
private. Out of these grew, in December, 1839, a series of 
public discussions, extending over eight evenings, and in 
which several of the first orators of the State took part. 
Lincoln was the last man on the list. The people were nearly 
worn out before his turn came, and his audience was small. 
He began his speech with some melancholy, self-deprecatory 
reflections, complaining that the small audience cast a damp 
upon his spirits which he Avas sure he would be unable to 
overcome during the evening. He did better than he ex- 
pected, overcoming the damp on his spirits so effectually that 
he made what was regarded as the best speech of the series. 
By a general request, it w'as printed for distrilnition. The 
speech is peculiarly interesting from the fact tliat while there 
is a little of the perfervid eltxjuence of 1840 in it, as well as 
a good deal of the rather boisterous humor of the time, a part 
oi H is devoted to a careful examination of the statements of 



I62 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

his opponents, and a refutation of them by means of pubUc 
documents. 

As a good Democrat was expected to do, Douglas had ex- 
plained with plausibility why the Van Buren administration 
had in 1838 spent $40,000,000. Lincoln takes up his state- 
ments one by one, and proves, as he says, that "the majority 
of them are wholly untrue." Douglas had attributed a part 
of the expenditures to the purchase of public lands from the 
Indians. 

"Now it happens," said Lincoln, "that no such purchase 
was made during that year. It is true that some money 
was paid that year in pursuance of Indian treaties; but no 
more, or rather not as much as had been paid on the same 

account in each of several preceding years Again, 

Mr. Douglas says that the removal of the Indians to the 
country west of the Mississippi created much of the expendi- 
ture of 1838. I have examined the pul)lic documents in rela- 
tion to this matter, and find that less was paid for the re- 
moval of Indians in that than in some former years. The 
whole sum expended on that account in that year did not 
much exceed one quarter of a million. For this small sum, 
although we do not tliink the administration entitled to 
credit, because large sums have been expended in the same 
way in former years, we consent it may take one and make 
the most of it. 

"Next, Mr. Douglas says that five millions of the exi)endi- 
tures of 1838 consisted of the payment of the French in- 
demnity money to its individual claimants. I have carefully 
examined the ]niblic documents, and therel)y find this state- 
ment to be wholly untrue. Of the forty millions of dollars 
expended in 1838, I am enabled to say positively that not one 
dollar consisted of payments on the French indemnities. So 
much for that excuse. 

"Next comes the Post-ofiice. He says that five millions 
were expended during that year to sustain that department. 
By a like examination of pu])lic documents, I find this also 
wholly untrue. Of the so often mentioned forty millions, not 
one dollar went to the Post-office. . . . 



BEGINS TO STUDY LAW 1 63 

"I return to another of Mr. Douglas's excuses for the ex- 
penchturcs of 1838, at the same time announcing the ])leas- 
ing intelHgence that this is the last one. He says that ten mil- 
lions of that year's expenditure was a contingent appropria- 
tion, to prosecute an anticipated war with Great Britain on 
the Maine boundary question. Few words will settle this. 
First, that the ten millions appropriated was not made till 
1839, and consequently could not have been expended in 
1838; second, although it was ai)propriated, it has never been 
expended at all. Those wdio lieard Mr. Douglas recollect 
that he indulged himself in a ccnitemptuous expression of 
pity for me. 'Now he's got me,' thought I. 15ut when lie 
went on to say that five millions of the expenditure of 1838 
were i)ayments of the h'rench indemnities, which 1 knew to 
be untrue; that five millions had l)een for the Post-office, 
which 1 knew to be untrue; that ten millions had 1)een for the 
Maine boundary war, which I not only knew to be untrue, 
but supremely ridiculous also; and when I saw that he was 
stupid enough to hope that I would permit such groundless 
and audacious assertions to go unexposed, — I readily con- 
sented that, on the score both of veracity and sagacity, the 
audience should judge whether he or I were the more de- 
serving of the W'Orld's contempt." 

These citations show that Lincoln had already learned to 
handle public documents, and to depend for at least a part of 
his success with an audience upon a careful statement of 
facts. The methods used in at least a portion of this speech 
are exactly those which made the irresistible strength (jf his 
speeches in 1858, 1859, and i860. 

But there was little of as 'good work done in the campaign 
of 1840, by Lincoln or anybody else, as is found in this 
speech. It w^as a campaign of fun and noise, and nowhere 
more so than in Illinois. Lincoln was one of the five Whig 
Presidential electors, and he flung himself into the campaign 
with confidence. "The nomination of Harrison takes first 
rate," he wrote to his partner Stuart, then in Washington. 
'You know I am never sanguine, but I believe we will carry 



1 64 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

the State. The chance of doing so appears to me twenty-five 
per cent, better than it did for you to beat Douglas." The 
Whigs, in spite of their disHke of the convention system, or- 
ganized as they never had before, and even sent out a "confi- 
dential" circular <^f which Lincoln was the author. 

This circular provided for a remarkably complete organi- 
zation of the State, as the following extracts will show : 

After due deliberation, the following is the plan of or- 
ganization, and the duties required of each county commit- 
tee: 

( 1 ) To divide their county into small districts, and to ap- 
point in each a subcommittee, whose duty it shall be to make 
a perfect list of all the voters in their respective districts, and 
to ascertain with certainty for whom they will vote. If they 
meet with men who are doubtful as to the mari they will sup- 
port, such voters should be designated in separate lines, with 
the name of the man they will probal)ly support. 

(2) It will be the duty of said subcommittee to keep a 
constant watch on the doubtful voters, and from time to time 
have them talked to by those in whom they have the most 
confidence, and also to place in their hands such documents 
as will enlighten and influence them. 

(5) On the first of each month hereafter we shall expect 
to hear from you. After the first report of your subcommit- 
tees, unless there should be found a great many doubtful 
voters, you can tell pretty accurately the manner in which 
your county will vote. In each of your letters to us. you will 
state the number of certain votes both for and against us, as 
well as the number of doubtful votes, with your opinion of 
the manner in which they will be cast. 

(6) When we have heard from all the counties, we shall 
be able to tell with similar accuracy the political complexion 
of the State. This information will be forwarded to you as 
soon as received. 

Every weapon Lincoln thought of possible use in the con- 
test he secured. "Be sure to send me as many copies of the 



BEGINS TO STUDY LAW 165 

'Life of Harrison' as you can spare from other uses," he 
wrote Stuart. "Be very sure to procure and send me the 
'Senate Journar of New York, of September, 181 4. I have a 
newspaper article which says that that document proves that 
Van Buren voted against raising- troops in the last war. 
And. in general, send me everything you think will be a good 
'war-club.' " 

Every sign of success he quoted to Stuart ; the number of 
subscribers to the "Old Soldier," a campaign newspaper 
which the Whig committee had informed the Whigs of the 
State that they "imist take;" the names of Van Buren men 
who were weakening, and to whom he wanted Stuart to send 
documents ; the name of every theretofore doubtful person 
who had declared himself for Harrison. "Japh Bell has come 
out for Harrison," he put in a postscript to one letter; "ain't 
that a caution?" 

The monster political meetings held throughout the State 
did much to widen Lincoln's reputation, particularly one held 
in June in Springfield. Twenty thousand people attended this 
meeting, delegations coming from every direction. It took 
fourteen teams to haul the delegation from Chicago, and they 
were three weeks on their journey. Each party carried some 
huge symbolic piece — the log cabin being the favorite. One 
of the cabins taken to Springfield was drawn by thirty yokes 
of oxen. In a hickory tree which was planted lieside this 
cabin, coons were seen playing, and a barrel of hard cider 
stood by the door, continually on tap. Instead of a log cabin, 
the Chicago delegation dragged across country a govern- 
ment yawl rigged up as a two-masted ship, with a band of 
music and a six-pounder cannon on l)oard. 

There are many reminiscences of this great celebration, 
and Lincoln's part in it. still afioat in Illinois. General T. J. 
Henderson writes, in his entertaining reminiscences of Lin- 
coln : 



1 66 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

"The first time I remember to have seen Abraham Lincoln 
was during the memorable campaigri of 1840, when I was a 
boy fifteen years of age. It was at an immense Whig mass- 
meeting held at Springfield, Illinois, in the month of June oi 
that year. The Whigs attended this meeting from all parts of 
the State in large numbers, and it was estimated that from 
forty to fifty thousand people were present. They came in 
carriages and wagons, on horseback and on foot. They came 
with log cabins drawn on wheels by oxen, and with coons, 
coon-skins, and hard cider. They came with music and ban- 
ners; and thousands of them came from long distances. It 
was the first political meeting I had ever attended, and it 
made a very strong impression upon my youthful mind. 

"My father, William H. Henderson, then a resident of 
Stark county, Illinois, was an ardent Whig; and having 
served under General William Henry Harrison, the then 
Whig candidate for President, in the war of 1812-1815, he 
felt a deep interest in his election. And although he lived 
about a hundred miles from Springfield, he went with a dele- 
gation from Stark county to this political meeting, and took 
me along with him. I remember that at this great meeting of 
the supporters of Harrison and Tyler there were a number of 
able and distinguished speakers of tlie Whig party of the 
State of Illinois present. A.mong them were Colonel E. D. 
Baker, who was killed at Ball's Bluff, on the Potomac, in the 
late war, and who was one of the most eloquent speakers in 
the State ; Colonel John J. Hardin, who was killed at the bat- 
tle of Buena Vista, in the Mexican war; Fletcher Webster, a 
son of Daniel Webster, ^vho was killed in tlie late war; S. 
Leslie Smith, a brilliant orator of Chicago; Rev. John Ho- 
gan, Ben Bond, and Abraham Lincoln. I heard all of these 
men speak on that occasion. And while I was too young to 
be a judge of their speeches, yet I thought them all to be 
great men, and none of them greater than Abraham Lin- 
coln." 

The late Judge Scott of Illinois says of Lincoln's speech 
at that gathering, in an unpublished paper "Lincoln on the 
Stump and at the Bar" : 

":^.Ir. Lincoln stood in a wagon, from which he addressed 



BEGINS TO STUDY LAW 167 

the mass of people that surrounded it. The meethig was one 
of unusual interest l)ecause of him who was to make the prin- 
cipal address. It was at the time of his greatest physical 
strength. He was tall, and perhaps a little more slender than 
in later life, and more homely than after he became stouter in 
person. He was then only thirty-one years of age, and yet 
he was regarded as one of the alilest of the Whig speakers in 
that campaign. There was that in him that attracted and 
held public attention. Even then he was the subject of popu- 
lar regard because of his candid and simple mode of discuss- 
ing and illustrating political questions. At times he was in- 
tensely logical, and was always most convincing in his argu- 
ments. The questions involved in that canvass had relation 
to the tariff, internal public improvements by the federal gov- 
ernment, the distribution of the proceeds of the sales of pub- 
lic lands among the several States, and other questions that 
divided the political parties of that day. They were not such 
questions as enlisted and engaged his best thoughts; they did 
not take hold of his great nature, and had no tendency to de- 
velop it. At times he discussed the questions of the time in a 
logical way, but much time was devoted to telling stories to 
illustrate some phase of his argument, though more often the 
telling of these stories was resorted to for the purpose of 
rendering his opponents ridiculous. That was a style of 
speaking much appreciated at that early day. In that kind of 
oratory he excelled most of his contemporaries — indeed, he 
had no equal in the State. One story he told on that occa- 
sion was full of salient points, and well illustrated the argu- 
ment he was making. It was not an impure story, yet it was 
not one it would be seemly to publish ; but rendered, as it 
was, in his inimitable way, it contained nothing that was of- 
fensive to a refined taste. The same story might have been 
told by another in such a way that it would prolialily have 
been regarded as transcending the proprieties of popular ad- 
dress. One characterizing feature of all the stories told by 
Mr. Lincoln, on the stump and elsewhere, was that although 
the subject matter of some of them might not have been en- 
tirely unobjectionable, yet the manner of telling them was so 
peculiarly his own that they gave no offence even to refined 
and cultured people. On the contrary, they were much en- 



i68 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

joyed. The story he told on this occasion was much Hked by 
the vast assembly that surrounded the temporary platform 
from which he si)()ke, and was received witli loud bursts of 
laughter and applause. It served to place the opposing party 
and its speakers in a most ludicrous position in respect to the 
question being considered, and gave him a most favorable 
hearing for the arguments he later made in support of the 
measures he was sustaining." 

Although so active as a Whig politician Lincoln was 
not prominent at this period as a legislator. Few bills 
originated with him. Among these few one of interest is the 
Illinois law requiring the examination of school teachers as 
to their qualifications, and providing for the granting of offi- 
cial certificates of authority to teach. In the pioneer days, 
any person whom circumstances forced into the business was 
permitted to teach. On December 2, 1840, Lincoln offered 
the following resolution in the Illinois House of Representa- 
tives: 

"Resolved, That the committee on education be instructed 
to inquire into the expediency of providing by law for the 
examination as to the qualification of persons offering them- 
selves as school teachers, that no teacher shall receive any 
part of the public school fund who shall not have success- 
fully passed such examination, and that they report by bill 
or otherwise." 

A motion to table this resolution was defeated. Within 
the ensuing three months the legislature passed "an act mak- 
ing provision for organizing and maintaining common 
schools" — the act which was the foundation of the common 
school system of Illinois. Section 81 of this act, providing 
for the qualification of teachers embodied Lincoln's idea. 
This section made it the duty of the school trustees in every 
township "to examine any person proposing to teach school 
in their vicinity in relation to the qualifications of such per- 
son as a teacher." or they might appoint a board of commis- 



BEGINS TO STUDY LAW 169 

sioners to conduct tlie examination; and a certificate of quali- 
fication was to be issued by a majority of the trustees or com- 
missioners. Since then, of course, all the States have passed 
laws providing for the examination of teachers. In Illinois, 
no material change has been made in Lincoln's plan (for this 
section of the law was very hkely drawn by Lincoln), ex- 
cept that the power of examination has been transferred 
from the trustees or commissioners to the county superin- 
tendent of schools an office then unknown. 



S. T. LOGAN & E. D. BAKER, 

Attorneys and Counsellors at h\vr,. 

WILL practice, in conjunctioD, in tLe Cir- 
CourtsoftUis Judicial District, an* n the Circuit 
Courts of the Counties of Pike, Schuyler and Peoria* 
Springfield, march, 1837. 81 -t 

J. T. STUART AND A. LUSCOLNT^ 

ATTORNEYS and Counsellors at Law, will practice, 
conjouitly, in the Courts of this Judicial CirculL — 
Office No. 4 Hoffman's Rew,'u|i stairs. 
Sprin g field, april 12, 1837. 4 , 

THE partnership heretofore existing between the un^ 
dersigned, has been dissolved bv mutual consent.— » 
The'business will be found in the hands of John T. Stuart. 
JOHN T STUART, 
AprU12,1837. 84 HENRY E DUMMER. _ , 

STUART AND LINCOLN'S PROFESSIONAL CARD. 



CHAPTER XI 

Lincoln's engagement to mary todd — breaking of the 
engagement lincoln-shields duel 

Busy as Lincoln was with law and politics the first three 
years after he reached Springfield, he did not by any means 
fail to identify himself with the interests of the town and of 
its people. In all the intellectual life of the place he took his 
part. In the fall of 1837 with a few of the leading young 
men he formed a young men's lyceum. One of the very 
few of his early speeches which has been preserved was de- 
livered before this body, its subject being the Perpetuation 
of our Political Institutions. At the recjuest of the mem- 
bers of the Lyceum this address was published in the "San- 
gamon Journal" for February 3, 1838. 

The most pleasing feature of his early life in the town was 
the way in which he attracted all classes of people to hiuL He 
naturally, from his political importance and from his relation 
to Mr. Stuart, was admitted to the best society. But Lincoln 
was not received there from tolerance of his position only. 
The few members left of that interesting circle of Springfield 
in the thirties are emphatic in their statements that he was 
recognized as a valuable social factor. If indifferent to forms 
and little accustomed to conventional usages, he had a native 
dignity and self-respect which stamped him at once as a su- 
perior man. He had a good will, an easy adaptability to peo- 
ple, which made him take a hand in everything that went on. 
His name appears in every list of banqueters and merry- 
makers reported in the Springfield papers. He even served 
as committeeman for cotillion parties " We liked Lincoln 

170 



HIS MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENT 



*7I 



though he was not gay," said one charming and cultivated 
old lady to me in Springfield. "He rarely danced, he was 
never very attentive to ladies, but he was always a welcome 
guest everywhere, and the centre of a circle of animated 



O^ 



6 



.^VVIOIT ^4^^^ 



> 




December I6tk, /839 



«• M. BloeCLV, 

•>. A. M'CLCtlNAMD, 

R. ALLCN. 

M. M. WASH. 

r. w. TOI/O. 

B. A. DOUtLASS. 

w. s. rnCHTict. 

N. M. E0WARO3, 



J. r. 3PECD, 
J. SHICLOS. 
E. 0. TAYLOR, 
C. H. KCnRXMAM, 
N. E. WHITESIOE. 
M. CASTHAH. 
4. f\. OlkUE-R. 
A. LINCOLN, 



FACSIMILE! OF INVITATION TO A SPRINGFIELD COTIIiIilON PAinir, 

From the collection of Mr. C. F. Gunther, Chicago. 

talkers. Indeed, I think the only thing we girls had against 
Lincoln was that he always attracted all the men around 
him." 

Lincoln's kindly interest and perfectly democratic feeling 
attached to him many people whom he never met save on the 



172 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

streets. Indeed his life in the streets of Springfield is a most 
touching and delightful study. He concerned himself in the 
progress of every building which was put up, of every new 
street which was opened; he passed nobody without recog- 
nition ; he seemed always to have time to stop and talk. He 
became, in fact, part of Springfield street life, just as he did 
of the town's politics and society. 

In 1840 Lincoln became engaged to be married to one of 
the favorite young women of Springfield, Miss Mary Todd, 
the sister-in-law of one of his political friends, a member of 
the "Long Nine" and a prominent citizen, Ninian W. Ed- 
wards. 

Miss Todd came from a well-known family of Lexington, 
Kentucky ; her father, Robert S. Todd, being one of the 
leading citizens of his State. She had come to Springfield 
in 1839 to live with her sister, Mrs. Edwards. She was a 
brilliant, witty, highly-educated girl, ambitious and spirited, 
with a touch of audacity which only made her more attrac- 
tive, and she at once took a leading position in Springfield 
society. There were many young unmarried men in the 
town, drawn there by politics, and Mr. Edwards's handsome 
home was opened to them in the hospitable Southern way. 
After Mary Todd became an inmate of the Edwards house, 
the place was gayer than ever. She received much attention 
from Douglas, Shields, Lincoln, and several others. It was 
soon apparent, however, that Miss Todd preferred Lincoln. 
As the intimacy between them increased, Mr. and Mrs. Ed- 
wards protested. However honorable and able a man Lin- 
coln might be, he was still a "plebeian.'' His family were 
humble and poor; he was self-educated, without address or 
polish, careless of forms, indifferent to society. How could 
Mary Todd, brought up in a cultured home, accustomed to 
the refinements of life, ambitious for social position, accom- 
modate herself to so grave a nature, so dull an exterior? 



HIS MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENT 173 

Miss Todd knew her own mind, however. She loved Lin- 
cohi, and seems to have beheved from the first in his future. 
Some time in 1840 they became engaged. 

But it was not long before there came the clashing in- 
evitable between two persons whose tastes and ambitions 
were so different. Miss Todd was jealous and exacting; 
Lincoln thoughtless and inattentive. He frequently failed 
to accompany her to the merry-makings which she wanted 
to attend and she, naturally enough, resented his neglect 
interpreting it as a purposed slight. Sometimes in revenge 
she went with Mr. Douglas or some other escort who of- 
fered. Reproaches and tears and misunderstandings fol- 
lowed. If the lovers made up, it was only to fall out again. 
At last Lincoln became convinced that they were incompati- 
ble, and resolved that he must break the engagement. But 
the knowledge that the girl loved him took away his cour- 
age. He felt that he must not draw back, and he became pro- 
foundly miserable. 

"Whatever woman may cast her lot with mine, should any 
ever do so, it is my intention to do all in my power to make 
her happy and contented ; and there is nothing I can imagine 
that would make me more unhappy than to fail in the ef- 
fort," Lincoln had written Miss Owens three years before. 
How could he make this brilliant, passionate creature to 
whom he was betrothed happy? 

A mortal dread of the result of the marriage, a harrow- 
ing doubt of his own feelings, possessed him. The experience 
is not so rare in the history of lovers that it should be re- 
garded, as it often has been, as something exceptional and 
abnormal in Lincoln's case. A reflective nature founded in 
melancholy, like Lincoln's, rarely undertakes even the sim- 
pler affairs of life without misgivings. He certainly experi- 
enced dread and doubt before entering on any new relation. 
When it came to forming the most delicate and intimate of 



174 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

all human relations, he staggered under a burden of uncer- 
tainty and suffering and finally broke the engagement. 

So horrible a breach of honor did this seem to him that 
he called the day when it occurred the "fatal first of January, 
1 84 1," and months afterward he wrote to his intimate friend 
Speed : "I must regain my confidence in my own ability to 
keep my resolves when they are made. In that ability I once 
prided myself as the only or chief gem of my character; that 
gem I lost — how and where you know too well. 1 have not 
yet regained it, and, until I do, I cannot trust myself in any 
matter of much impurtance." 

The breaking of the engagement between Miss Todd and 
Mr. Lincoln was known at the time to all their friends. Lin- 
coln's melancholy was evident to them all, nor did he, in- 
deed, attempt to disguise it. He wrote and spoke freely to 
his intimates of the despair which possessed him, and of his 
sense of dishonor. The episode caused a great amount of 
gossip, as was to be expected. After Mr. Lincoln's assassi- 
nation and Mrs. Lincoln's sad death, various accounts of 
the courtship and marriage were circulated. It remained, 
however, for one of Lincoln's law partners, Mr. W. H. 
Herndon, to develop and circulate the most sensational of 
all the versions of the rupture. According to Mr. Herndon, 
the engagement between the two was broken in the most 
violent and public way possible, by Mr. Lincoln's failing to 
appear at the wedding. Mr. Herndon even describes the 
scene in detail : 

"The time fixed for the marriage was the first day of Janu- 
ary, 1841. Careful preparations for the happy occasion were 
made at the Edwards mansion. The house underwent the 
customary renovation ; the furniture was properly arranged, 
the rooms neatly decorated, the supper prepared, and the 
guests invited. The latter assembled on the evening in ques- 
tion, and awaited in expectant ])leasure the interesting cere- 
mony of marriage. The bride, bedecked in veil and silken 



HIS MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENT 175 

gown, and nervously toying with the flowers in her hair, sat 
in the adjoining room. Nothing was lacking but the groom. 
For some strange reason he had been delayed. An hour 
passed, and the guests, as well as the bride, were becoming 
restless. But they were all doomed to disappointment. An- 
other hour passed ; messengers were sent out over town, and 
each returning with the same report, it became apparent tiiat 
Lincoln, the principal in this little drama, had purposely 
failed to appear. The bride, in grief, disappeared to her 
room ; the wedding supper was left untouched ; the guests 
quietly and wonderingly withdrew ; the lights in the Ed- 
wards mansion were blown out, and darkness settled over all 
for the night. What the feelings of a lady as sensitive, pas- 
sionate, and proud as Miss Todd were, we can only imagine ; 
no one can ever describe them. B}^ daybreak, after persistent 
search. Lincoln's friends found him. Restless, gloomy, 
miserable, desperate, he seemed an object of pity. His 
friends, Speed among the number, fearing a tragic termina- 
tion, watched him closely in their rooms day and night. 
'Knives and razors, and every instrument that could be used 
for self-destruction, were removed from his reach.' Mrs. 
Edwards did not hesitate to regard him as insane, and of 
course her sister Mary shared in that view." 

No one can read this description in connection with the 
rest of Mr. Herndon's text, and escape the impression that, 
if it is true, there must have been a vein of cowardice in 
Lincoln. The context shows that he was not insane enough 
to excuse such a public insult to a woman. To break his en- 
gagement was, all things considered, not an unusual or ab- 
normal thing; to brood over the rupture, to blame himself, 
to feel that he had been dishonorable, was to be expected, 
after such an act, from one of his temperament. Nothing, 
however, but temporary insanity or constitutional cowardice 
could explain such conduct as here described. Mr. Herndon 
does not pretend to found his story on any personal knowl- 
edge of the affair. He was in Springfield at the time, a clerk 
in Speed's store, but did not have then, nor, indeed, did he 



176 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

ever have, any social relations with the families in which 
Mr. Lincoln was always a welcome guest. His authorit}' 
for the story is a remark which he says Mrs. Ninian Ed- 
wards made to him in an interview : "Lincoln and Mary 
were engaged; everything was ready and prepared for the 
marriage, even to the supper. Mr. Lincoln failed to meet his 
engagement; cause, insanity." This remark, it should be 
noted, is not from a manuscript written by Mrs. Edwards, 
but in a report of an interview with her, written by Mr. 
Herndon. Supposing, however, that the statement was made 
exactly as Mr. Herndon reports it, it certainly does not 
justify any such sensational description as Mr. Herndon 
gives. 

If such a thing had ever occurred, it could not have failed 
to be known, of course, even to its smallest details, by all the 
relatives and friends of both Miss Todd and Mr. Lincoln. 
Nobody, however, ever heard of this wedding party until 
Mr. Herndon gave his material to the public. 

One of the closest friends of the Lincolns throughout their 
lives was a cousin of Mrs. Lincoln's, Mrs. Grimsley, after- 
wards Mrs. Dr. Brown. Mrs. Grimsley lived in Springfield, 
on the most intimate and friendly relations with j\Ir. and 
Mrs. Lincoln, and the first six months of their life in the 
White House she spent with them. She was a woman of un- 
usual culture, and of the rarest sweetness and graciousness 
of character. Some months before Mrs. Brown's death, in 
August, 1895, a copy of Mr. Herndon's story was sent her, 
with a request that she write for publication her knowledge 
of the affair. In her reply she said : 

"Did Mr. Lincoln fail to appear when the invitations were 
out, the guests invited, and the supper ready for the wed- 
ding? I will say em|)hatically, 'No.' 

"There may have been a little shadow of foundation for 
Mr. Herndon's lively imagination to play upon, in that, the 
year previous to the marriage, and when Mr. Lincoln and 



HIS MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENT \']^ 

my cousin Mary expected soon to be married, Mr. Lincoln 
was taken with one of those fearful, overwhelming periods 
of depression, which induced his friends to persuade him to 
leave Spring-field. This he did for a time ; but I am satisfied 
he was loyal and true to Mary, even though at times he may 
have doubted whether he was responding as fully as a manly, 
generous nature should to such affection as he knew my 
cousin was ready to bestow on him. And this because it had 
not the overmastering depth of an early love. This every- 
body here knows ; therefore I do not feel as if I were betray 
ing dear friends." 

Mrs. John Stuart, the wife of Lincoln's law partner at 
that time, is still li\ing in Springfield, a refined, cultivated, 
intelligent woman, who remembers perfectly the life and 
events of that day. When Mr. Herndon's story first came 
to her attention, her indignation was intense. She protested 
that she never before had heard of such a thing. Mrs. Stuart 
w^as not, however, in 'Springfield at that particular date, but 
in Washington, her husband being a member of Congress. 
She wrote the following statement for this biography : 

*T cannot deny this, as I was not in Springfield for some 
months before and after this occurrence was said to have 
taken place ; but I was in close correspondence with relatives 
and friends during all this time, and never heard a word of 
it. The late Judge Broadwell told me that he had asked 
Mr. Ninian Edwards about it, and Mr. Edwards told him 
that no such thing had ever taken place. 

"All I can say is that I unhesitatingly do not believe such 
an event ever occurred. I thcuight I had never heard of 
this till I saw it in Herndon's book. I have since been told 
that Lamon mentions the same thing. I read Lamon at the 
time he published, and felt very much disgusted, but did not 
remember this particular assertion. The first chapters of 
Lamon's book were purchased from Herndon ; so Herndon 
is responsible for the whole. 

"Mrs. Lincoln told me herself all the circumstances of her 
engagement to Mr. Lincoln, of his illness, and the breaking 

(12) 



lyS LIFE OF LINCOLN 

off of her engagement, of the renewal, and her marriage. 
So I say I do not beUeve one word of this dishonorable story 
about Mr. Lincoln," 

Another prominent member in the same circle with Mr. 
Lincoln and Miss Todd is Mrs. B. T. Edwards, the widow 
of Judge Benjamin T. Edwards, the sister-in-law of Mr. 
Ninian Edwards, who had married Miss Todd's sister. She 
came to Springfield in 1839, ^^^^ ^"^'^^ intimately acquainted 
with Mr. Lincoln and Miss Todd, and knew, as well as an- 
other could know, their affairs. Mrs. Edwards is still living 
in Springfield, a woman of the most perfect refinement and 
trustworthiness. In answer to the question, "Is Mr. Hern- 
don's description true?" she writes: 

"I am impatient to tell you that all that he says about this 
wedding — the time for which was 'fixed for the first day of 
January' — is a fabrication. He has drawn largely upon his 
imagination in describing something which never took place. 

"I know the engagement between Mr. Lincoln and Miss 
Todd was interrupted for a time, ^nd it was rumored among 
her young friends that Mr. Edwards had rather opposed it. 
But I am sure there had been no 'time fixed' for any wed- 
ding; that is, no preparations had ever been made until the 
day that Mr. Lincoln met Mr. Edwards on tlie street and told 
him that he and Mary were going to be married that even- 
ing. Upon inquiry, Mr. Lincoln said they would be married 
in the Episcopal church, to which Mr. Edwards replied: *No; 
Mary is my ward, and she must be married at my house.' 

"If I remember rightly, the wedding guests were few, not 
more than thirty; and it seems to me all are gone now but 
Mrs. Wallace, Mrs. Levering, and myself, for it was not 
much more than a family gathering; only two or three of 
Mary Todd's young friends were present. The 'entertain- 
ment' was simple, but in beautiful taste; but the bride had 
neither veil nor flowers in her hair, with which to 'toy 
nervously.' There had been no elaborate trousseau for the 
bride of the future President of the United States, nor even 
a handsome wedding gown ; nor was it a gay wedding." 



HIS MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENT (79 

Two sisters of Mrs. Lincoln who are still living, Mrs. 
Wallace of Springfield, and Mrs. Helm of Elizabethstown, 
Kentucky, deny emphatically that any wedding- was ever ar- 
ranged between Mr. Lincoln and Miss Todd but the one 
which did take place. That the engagement was broken 
after a wedding had been talked of, they think possible; but 
Mr. Herndon's story, they deny emphatically. 

"There is not a word of truth in it!" Mrs. Wallace broke 
out, impulsively, before the question about the non-appear- 
ance of Air. Lincoln had been finished. "I never was so 
amazed in my life as when I read that story. Mr. Lincoln 
never did such a thing. Why, Mary Lincoln never had a 
silk dress in her life until she went to Washington." 

As Mr. Joshua Speed was, all through this period, Mr, 
Lincoln's closest friend, no thought or feeling of the one ever 
being concealed from the other, Mrs. Joshua Speed, who is 
still living in Louisville, Kentucky, was asked if she knew 
of the story, Mrs. Speed listened in surprise to Mr. Hern- 
don's tale. "I never heard of it before," she declared. "I 
never heard of it. If it is true, I never heard of it." 

While the above investigation was going on quite unex- 
pectedly, a volunteer witness to the falsity of the story ap- 
peared. The Hon. H. W. Thornton of Millersburg, Illinois, 
was a member of the Twelfth General Assembly, which met 
in Springfield in 1840. During that winter he was boarding 
near Lincoln, saw him almost every day, was a constant visi- 
tor at Mr. Edwards's house, and Ise knew Miss Todd w^ell. 
He wrote to the author declaring thst Mr, Herndon's state- 
ment about the wedding must be false, as he was closely asso- 
ciated with Miss Todd and Mr. Lincoln all winter, and never 
knew anything of it. Mr. 1'hornton went on to say that he 
knew beyond a doul)t that the sensational account of Lin- 
coln's insanity was untrue, and he quoted from the House 
journal to show^ how it was impossible that, as Lamon says, 



l8o LIFE OF LINCOLN 

using Herndon's notes, "Lincoln went crazy as a loon, and 
did not attend the legislature in 1841-1842, for this rea- 
son;" or, as Herndon says, that he had to be watched con- 
stantly. According to the record taken from the journals of 
the House by Mr. Thornton, and which have been verified in 
Springfield, Mr. Lincoln was in his seat in the House on 
that "fatal first of January" when he is asserted to have been 
groping in the shadow of madness, and he was also there on 
the following day. The third of January was Sunday. On 
Monday, the fourth, he appears not to have been present — 
at least he did not vote ; but even this is by no means con- 
clusive evidence that he was not there. On the fifth, and on 
every succeeding- day until the thirteenth, he was in his seat. 
From the thirteenth to the eighteenth, inclusive, he is not 
recorded on any of the roll-calls, and probably was not pres- 
ent. But on the nineteenth, when "John J. Hardin announced 
his illness to the House," as Mr. Herndon says (which an- 
nouncement seems not to have gotten into the journal), Lin- 
coln was again in his place, and voted. On the twentieth he 
is not recorded ; but on every subsequent day, until the close 
of the session on the first of March, Lincoln was in the 
House. Thus, during the whole of the two months of Janu- 
ary and February, he was absent not more than seven days 
— as good a record of attendance, perhaps, as that made by 
the average member. 

Mr. Hiornton says further: "Mr. Lincoln boarded at 
William Butler's, near to Dr. Henry's, where I boarded. The 
missing days, from January 13th to 19th, Mr. Lincoln spent 
several hours each day at Dr. Henry's; a part of these days 
I remained with Mr. Lincoln. His most intimate friends 
had no fears of his injuring himself. He was very sad and 
melancholy, but l)eing subject to these spells, nothing serious 
was apprehended. His being watched, as stated in Hern- 
don's book, was news to me until I saw it there." 



HIS MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENT l8l 

But while Linculn went about his daily duties, even on the 
"fatal first of January," — the day when he broke his word to 
Miss Todd, his whole being was shrouded in gloom. He 
did not pretend to conceal this from his friends. Writing to 
Mr. Stuart on January 23d, he said : 

"I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel 
were equally distributed to the whole human family, there 
would not be one cheerful face on the earth. Whether I 
shall ever be better, I cannot tell; I awfully forebode 1 shall 
not. To remain as I am is impossible. I must die or be 
better, it appears to me. The matter you speak of on my 
account yuu may attend to as you say, unless you shall hear 
of my condition forbidding it. 1 say this because i fear 1 
shall be unable to attend to any business here, and a change 
of scene might help me." 

In the summer he visited his friend Speed, who had sold 
his store in Spring'field, and returned to Louisville, Ken- 
tucky. The visit did much to brighten his spirits, for, writ- 
ing back in September, after his return, to his friend's sister, 
he was even gay. 

A curious situation arose the next year ( 1842), which did 
much to restore Lincoln to a more normal view of his relation 
to Miss Todd. In the summer of 1841, his friend Speed 
had become engaged. As the time for his marriage ap- 
proached, he in turn was attacked by a melancholy not un- 
like that from which Lincoln had suffered. He feared he did 
not love well enough to marry, and he confided his fear to 
Lincoln. Full of sympathy for the trouble of his friend, Lin- 
coln tried in every way to persuade him that his "twinges 
of the soul" v.-ere all explained by nervous debility. When 
Speed returned to Kentucky, Lincoln wrote him several let- 
ters, in which he consoled, counselled, or laughed at him. 
These letters abound in suggestive passages. From what did 
Speed suffer? From three special causes and a general one, 
which Lincoln proceeds to enumerate : 



l82 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

"The general cause is, that you are naturally of a nervous 
temperament; and this 1 say from what 1 have seen of you 
personally, and what you have told me concerning your 
mother at various times, and concerning your brother Will- 
iam at the time his wife died. The first special cause is your 
exposure to bad weather on your journey, which my ex- 
perience clearly proves to be very severe on defective nerves. 
The second is the absence of all business and conversation of 
friends, which might divert your mind, give it occasional rest 
from the intensity of thought which will sometimes wear the 
sweetest idea threadbare and turn it to the bitterness of 
death. The third is the rapid and near approach of that 
crisis on which all your thoughts and feelings concentrate." 

Speed writes that his fiancee is ill, and his letter is full of 
gloomy forebodings of an early death. Lincoln hails these 
fears as an omen of happiness. 

*T hope and believe that your present anxiety and distress 
ibout her health and her life must and will forever banish 
those horrid doubts which I know you sometimes felt as to 
the truth of your affection for her. If they can once and for- 
ever be removed (and I almost feel a presentiment that the 
Almighty has sent your present affliction expressly for that 
object), surely nothing can come in their stead to fill their 
immeasurable measure of misery. It really appears to me 
that you yourself ought to rejoice, and not sorrow, at this in- 
dubitable evidence of your undying afi!ection for her. Wh}/-, 
Speed, if you did not love her, although you might not wish 
her death, you would most certainly be resigned to it. Per- 
haps this point is no longer a question with you, and my 
pertinacious dwelling upon it is a rude intrusion upon your 
feelings. If so, you must pardon me. You know the hell I 
have suft'ered on that point, and how tender I am upon it. 
... I am now fully convinced that you love her as ardently 
as you are capable of loving. Your ever being happy in her 
presence, and your intense anxiety about her health, if there 
were nothing else, would place this beyond all dispute in my 
mind. I incline to think it probable that your nerves will fail 
you occasionally for a while; but once you get them firmly 



HIS MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENT 183 

guarded now, that trouble is over forever. I think, if I were 
you, in case my mind were not exactly right, I would avoid 
being idle. I would immediately engage in some business or 
go to making preparations for it, which would be the same 
thing." 

Mr. Speed's marriage occurred in February, and to the 
letter announcing it Lincoln replied : 

''I opened the letter with intense anxiety and trepidation ; 
so much so, that, although it turned out better than I ex- 
pected, I have hardly yet, at a distance of ten hours, become 
calm. 

"I tell you. Speed, our forebodings (for which you and I 
are peculiar) are all the worst sort of nonsense. I fancied, 
from the time I received your letter of Saturday, that the 
one of Wednesday was never to come, and yet it did come, 
and what is more, it is perfectly clear, both from its tone 
and handwriting, that you were much happier, or, if you 
think the term preferable, less miserable, when you wrote it 
than when you wrote the last one before. You had so ob- 
viously improved at the very time I so much fancied you 
would have grown worse. You say that something indes- 
cribably horrible and alarming still haunts you. You will 
not say that three months from now, I will venture. When 
your nerves once get steady now, the whole trouble will be 
over forever. Nor should you become impatient at their 
being even very slow in becoming steady. Again you say, 
you much fear that that Elysium of which you have dreamed 
so much is never to be realized. Well, if it shall not. I dare 
swear it will not b.e the fault of her who is now your wife. 
I now have no doubt that it is the peculiar misfortune of 
both you and me to dream dreams of Elysium far exceeding 
all that anything earthly can realize." 

His prophecy was true. In March Speed wrote him that 
he was ''far happier than he h.ad ever expected to be." Lin- 
coln caught at the letter with pathetic eagerness. 

"It cannot be told how it now thrills me with joy to hear 
you say you are 'far happier than vou ever expected to be.' 



l84 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

That much I know is enough. I know you too well to sup- 
pose your cx])ectations were not, at least, sometimes ex- 
travagant, and if the reality exceeds them all, I say, Enough, 
dear Lord. I am not going beyond the truth when I tell 
you that the short space it took me to read your last 
letter gave me more pleasure than the total sum of all I 
have enjoyed since the fatal ist of January, 1841. Since 
then it seems to me I should have been entirely happv, l)Ut 
for the never-absent idea that there is one still unhappy 
whom I have contributed to make so. That still kills mvsoul. 
I cannot but reproach myself for even wishing to be happy 
while she is otherwise. She accompanied a large party on 
the railroad cars to Jacksonville last Monday, and on her re- 
turn spoke, so that I heard of it. of having enjoyed the trip 
exceedingly. God be praised for that." 

Evidently Lincoln was still unreconciled to his separation 
from Miss Todd. In the summer of 1842, only three or four 
months after the above letter was written, a clever ruse on 
the part of certain of their friends threw the two unexpect- 
edly together; and an understanding of some kind evidently 
was reached, for during the season they met secretly at the 
house of one of Lincoln's friends, Mr. Simeon Francis. It 
was while these meetings were going on that a burlesque en- 
counter occurred between Lincoln and James Shields, for 
which Miss Todd was partly responsible, and which no doubt 
gave just the touch of comedy necessary to relieve their 
tragedy and restore them to a healthier view of their rela- 
tions. 

Among the Democratic officials then living in Springfield 
was the auditor of the State, James Shields. He was a hot- 
headed, blustering Irisliman, not without al)ility, and cer- 
tainly courageous ; a good politician, and, on the whole, a 
very well-liked man. However, the swagger and noise with 
which he accompanied the execution of his duties, and his 
habit of being continually on the defensive, made him the 
butt of Whig ridicule. Nothing could have given greater 



HIS MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENT 165 

satisfaction to Lincoln and his friends than having an op- 
ponent who, whenever they joked him, flew into a rage and 
challenged them to fight. 

At the time Lincoln was visiting Miss Todd at Mr. Fran- 
cis's house, the Whigs were much excited over the fact that 
the Democrats had issued an order forbidding the payment 
of State taxes in State bank-notes. The bank-notes were in 
fact practically worthless, for the State finances were suffer- 
ing a violent reaction from the extravagant legislation of 
1836 and 1837. One of the popular ways of attacking an 
obnoxious political doctrine in that day was writing letters 
from some imaginary backwoods settlement, setting forth in 
homely vernacular the writer's views of the question, and 
showing how its application affected his part of the world. 
These letters were really a rude form of the " Biglow Pa- 
pers " or " Nasby Letters." Soon after the order was issued 
by the Illinois officials demanding silver instead of bank- 
notes in payment of taxes, Lincoln wTote a letter to a Spring- 
field paper from the "Lost Townships," signing it "Aunt 
Rebecca." In it he described the plight to which the new or- 
der had brought the neighborhood, and he intimated that the 
only reason for issuing such an order was that the State of- 
ficers might have their salaries paid in silver. Shields was 
ridiculed unmercifully in the letter for his vanity and his 
gallantry. 

It happened that there w^ere several young w^omen in 
Springfield w-ho had received rather too pronounced atten- 
tion from Mr Shields, and wdio were glad to see him tor- 
mented. Among them were Miss Todd and her friend Miss 
Julia Jayne. Lincoln's letter from the ''Lost Townships" 
was such a success that they followed it up with one in which 
"Aunt Rebecca" proposed to the gallant auditor, and a few 
days later they published some very bad verses, signed 
"Cathleen,'' celebrating- the wedding. 



l86 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Sprinj^field was highly entertained, less by the verses than 
by the fury of Shields. He would have satisfaction, he said, 
and he sent a friend, one General Whitesides, to the paper, 
to ask for the name of the writer of the communications. 
The editor, in a quandary, went to Lincoln, who, unwilling 
that Miss Todd and Miss Jayne should figure in the affair, 
ordered that his own name be given as the author of letters 
and poem. This was only about ten days after the first let- 
ter had appeared, on September 2d, and Lincoln left Spring- 
field in a day or two for a long trip on the circuit. He was 
at Tremont when, on the morning of the seventeenth, two 
of his friends, E. H. Merryman and William Butler, drove 
up hastily. Shields and his friend Whitesides were behind, 
they said, the irate Irishman vowing that he would challenge 
Lincoln. They, knowing that Lincoln was "unpractised both 
as to diplomacy and weapons," had started as soon as they 
had learned that Shields had left Springfield, had passed him 
in the night, and were there to see Lincoln through. 

It was not long before Shields and Whitesidesarrived,and 
soon Lincoln received a note in which the indignant writer 
said : "I will take the liberty of requiring a full, positive, and 
absolute retraction of all offensive allusions used by you in 
these communications in relation to my private character 
and standing as a man, as an apology for the insults con- 
"^eyed in them. This may prevent consequences which no 
one will regret more than myself." 

Lincoln immediately replied that, since Shields had not 
stopped to intjuire whether he really was the author of the 
articles, had not pointed out what was ofifensive m them, had 
assumed facts and hinted at consequences, he could not sub- 
mit to answer the note. Shields wrote again, but Lincoln 
simply replied that he could receive nothing but a withdraw'al 
of the first note oj a challenge. To this he steadily held, even 
refusing to answer the cuestion as tc the authorship of the 



HIS MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENT 187 

letters, vvhicli Shields finally put. It was inconsistent with 
his honor to negotiate for peace with Mr. Shields, he said.. 
unless Mr. Shields withdrew his former olTensivc letter. 
Seconds were immediately named : Whitesides by Shields, 
Merryman by Lincoln; and tliough they talked of peace, 
Whitesides declared he could not mention it to his principal. 
"He would challenge me next, and as soon cut my throat as 
not." 

This was on the nineteenth, and that night the party re- 
turned to Springfield. But in some way the affair had leaked 
out, and fearing arrest, Lincoln and Merryman left town the 
next morning. The instructions were left with Butler. If 
Shields would withdraw his first note, and write another 
asking if Lincoln was the author of the offensive articles, 
and, if so, asking for gentlemanly satisfaction, then Lincoln 
had prepared a letter explaining the whole affair. If Shields 
would not do this, there W'as nothing to do but fight. Lin- 
coln left the following preliminaries for the duel : 

"First. Weapons : Cavalry broadswords of the largest 
size, precisely equal in all respects, and such as now used by 
the cavalry company at Jacksonville. 

''Second. Position : A plank ten feet long, and from nine 
to twelve inches broad, to be firmly fixed on edge, on the 
ground, as the line between us, which neither is to pass his 
foot over on forfeit of his life. Next a line drawn on the 
ground on either side of said plank and parallel with it, each 
at the distance of the whole length of the sword and three 
feet additional from the plank ; and the passing of his own 
such line by either party during the figlit shall be deemed a 
surrender of the contest. 

"Third. Time : On Thursday e\'ening at five o'clock, if 
you can get it so ; but in no case to be at a greater distance of 
time than Friday evening at five o'clock. 

"Fourth. Place: Within three miles of Alton, on the op- 
posite side of the river, the particular spot to be agreed on 
b) v^on." 



1 88 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

As Mr. Shields refused to withdraw his first note, the en- 
tire party started for the rendezvous across the Mississippi. 
Lincohi and Merryman drove together in a dilapidated old 
bugg-y, in the bottom of which rattled a number of broad- 
swords. It was the morning of the 22d of September when 
the duellists arrived in the town. There are people still liv- 
ing in Alton who remember their coming. "The party ar- 
rived about the middle of the morning," says Mr. Edward 
Levis, "and soon crossed the river to a sand-bar which at the 
time was, by reason of the low water, a part of the Missouri 
mainland. The means of conveyance w^as an old horse-ferry 
that was operated by a man named Chapman. The weapons 
were in the keeping of the friends of the principals, and no 
care was taken to conceal them ; in fact, they were openly dis- 
played. Naturally, there was a great desire among the male 
population to attend the duel, but the managers of the affair 
would not permit any but their own party to board the ferry- 
boat. Skiffs w'ere very scarce, and but a few could avail 
themselves of the opportunity in this way. I had to content 
myself with standing on the levee and watching proceedings 
at long range." 

As soon as the parties reached the island the seconds be- 
gan preparations for the duel, the principals meanwhile seat- 
ing themselves on logs on opposite sides of the field — a half- 
cleared spot in the timber. One of the spectators says : 

"I watched Lincoln closely while he sat on his log awaiting 
the signal to fight. His face was grave and serious. I could 
discern nothing suggestive of 'Old Abe.' as we knew him. I 
never knew him to go so long before without making a joke, 
and I began to believe he was getting frightened. But pres- 
ently he reached over and picked up one of the swords, which 
he drew from its scabbard. Then he felt along the edge of 
the weapon with his thumb, like a barl)er feels of the edge of 
his razor, raised himself to his full height, stretched out his 
long arms and clipped off a twig from above his liead with 



HIS MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENT 189 

the sword. There wasn't another man of us who could have 
reached anywhere near that twig, and the absurdity of that 
long-reaching fellow fighting with cavalry sabers with 
Shields, who could walk under his arm, came pretty near 
making me howl wath laughter. After Lincoln had cut off 
the twig he returned the sword to the scabbard with a sigh 
and sat down, but I detected the gleam in his eye, which was 
always the forerunner of one of his inimitable yarns, and 
fully expected him to tell a side-splitter there in the shadow 
of the grave — Shields's grave." 

The arrangements for the affair were about completed 
when the duellists were joined by some unexpected friends. 
Lincoln and Merryman, on their way to Alton, had stopped 
at White Hall for dinner. Across the street from the hotel 
lived j\Ir. Elijah Lott, an acquaintance of Merryman. Mr. 
Lott was not long in finding out what was on foot, and as 
soon as the duellists had departed, he drove to Carrollton, 
where he knew that Colonel John J. Hardin and several 
other friends of Lincoln were attending court, and warned 
them of the trouble. Hardin and one or two others imme- 
diately started for Alton. They arrived in time to calm 
Shields, and to aid the seconds in adjusting matters ''with 
lienor to all concerned." 

That the duellists returned in good spirits is evident from 
Mr. Levis's reminiscences: "It was not very long," says he, 
"until the boat was seen returning to Alton. As it drew near 
I saw what was presumably a mortally wounded man lying 
in the bow of the boat. His shirt appeared to be bathed in 
blood. I distinguished Jacob Smith, a constable, fanning the 
supposed victim vigorously. The people on the bank held 
their breath in suspense, and guesses were freely made as to 
which of the two men had been so terril)ly wounded. But 
suspense was soon turned to chagrin and relief when it tran- 
spired that the supposed candidate for another world was 
nothing more nor less than a log covered with a red shirt. 



I90 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

This ruse had been resorted to In order to fool the people on 
the levee ; and it worked to perfection. Lincoln and Shields 
came off the boat together, chatting in a nonchalant and 
pleasant manner." 

The Lincoln-Shields duel had so many farcical features, 
and Miss Todd had unwittingly been so much to blame for 
it, that one can easily see that it might have had considerable 
influence on the relations of the two young people. However 
that may be, something had made Mr. Lincoln feel that he 
could renew his engagement. Early in October, not a fort- 
night after the duel, he wrote Speed : "You have now been 
the husband of a lovely woman nearly eight months. That 
you are happier now than the day you married her I well 
know, for without you would not be living. But I have your 
word for It, too, and the returning elasticity of spirits which 
is manifested In your letters. But I want to ask a close ques- 
tion : Are you now in feelings as well as judgment glad that 
you are married as you are ? 

"From anybody but me this would be an impudent ques- 
tion, not to be tolerated ; but I know that you will pardon it 
in me. Please answer it quickly, as I am impatient to know." 

We do not know Speed's answer, nor the final struggle 
of the man's heart. We only know that on November 4, 
1842, Lincoln was married, the wedding being almost im- 
promptu. Mrs. Dr. Brown, Miss Todd's cousin, in the same 
letter quoted from above, describes the wedding : 

"One morning, bright and early, my cousin came down in 
her excited, impetuous way, and said to my father : 'Uncle, 
you must go up and tell my sister that Mr. Lincoln and I 
are to be married this evening,' and to me : 'Get on your bon- 
net and go with me to get my gloves, shoes, etc., and then to 
AFr. Kdwards's.' When we reached there we found smne ex- 
citement over a wedding being sjirung upon them so sud- 
denly. However, my father, in his lovely, pacific way, 
'poured oil upon the waters,' and we thought everything was 



HIS MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENT 191 

*ship-shape/ when Mrs. Edwards laughingly said : 'How for- 
tunately you selected this evening, for the Episcopal Sewing 
Society is to meet here, and my supper is all ordered.' 

"But that comfortable little arrangement would not hold, 
as Mary declared she would not make a spectacle for gossip- 
ing ladies to gaze upon and talk about; there had already 

To any Minister of ific Gospel, or other authorised Person-GREETING. 

iSiMSLaSJtit axe> to ^\ceirU^ (wtDji^mit uoti- to ioia ui ^ ^oU* Uoivdi 

^umv ujukA, mu nan^ anZ iOiE <£ oS^Im', at 

^An.n.. '^/ -^ ^^^. 







■lA^. ^nu fJLJ^'^'-^^--- 



FACSIMILE OF MARUIAC.E LICENSE AND CEBTIEIOATE OF ABBAHAM LINCOLN. 

From the original on tile iu tlie Couuty ("lerk's ollice of Sprini^fteld. 111. 

been too much talk about her. Then my father was des- 
patched to tell Mr. Lincoln that the wedding w(juld be de- 
ferred until the next evening. Clergyman, attendants and 
intimate friends were notified, and on Friday evening, in the 
midst of a small circle of friends, with the elements doing 
their worst in the way of rain, this singular courtship 
culminated in marriage. This I know to be literally true, as 
I was one of her bridesmaids. Miss Jayne (afterwards Mrs. 
Lyman Trumbull) and Miss Rodney being the others." 



CHAPTER XII 

LINCOLN BECOMES A CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS AND If 

DEFEATED ON THE STUMP IN 1844 NOMINATED AND 

ELECTED TO THE 3OTH CONGRESS 

For eight successive years Lincoln had been a member of 
the General Assembly of Illinois. It was quite long enough, 
in his judgment, and his friends seem to have wanted to give 
him something- better, for in 1841 they offered to support 
him as a candidate for governor of the State. This, how- 
ever, he refused. His ambition was to go to Washington. 
In 1842 he declined renomination for the assembly and be- 
came a candidate for Congress. He did not wait to be asked, 
nor did he leave his case in the hands of his friends. He 
frankly announced his desire, and managed his own canvass. 
There was no reason, in Lincoln's opinion, for concealing 
political ambition. He recognized, at the same time, the 
legitimacy of the ambition of his friends, and entertained no 
suspicion or rancor if they contested places with him. 

"Do you suppose that I should ever have got into notice 
if I had waited to be hunted up and pushed forward by older 
men?" he wrote his friend Herndon once, when the latter 
was complaining that the older men did not help him on, 
"The way for a young man to rise is to improve himself 
every way he can, never suspecting that anybody wishes to 
hinder him. Allow me to assure you that suspicion and jeal- 
ousy never did help any man in any situation. There may 
sometimes be ungenerous attempts to keep a young man 
down ; and they will succeed, too, if he allows his mind to be 
diverted from its true channel to brood over the attempted 

193 



BECOMES A CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS 193 

injury. Cast about, and see if this feeling has not injured 
every person you have ever known to fall into it." 

Lincoln had something more to do, however, in 1842, than 
simply to announce himself in the innocent manner of early 
politics. The convention system introduced into Illinois in 
1835 by the Democrats had been zealously opposed by all 
good Whigs, Lincoln included, until constant defeat taught 
them that to resist organization Ijy an every-man-for-himself 
policy was hopeless and wasteful, and that if they would 
succeed they must meet organization with organization. In 
1 84 1 a Whig State convention had been called to nominate 
candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant-gover- 
nor; and now, in March, 1843, a Whig meeting was held 
again at Springfield, at which the party's platform was laid, 
and a committee, of which Lincoln was a member, was ap- 
pointed to prepare an "Address to the People of Illinois." 
In this address the convention system was earnestly de- 
fended. Against this rapid adoption of the abominated sys- 
tem many of the Whigs protested, and Lincoln found him- 
self supporting before his constituents the tactics he had once 
warmly opposed. In a letter to his friend John Bennett, of 
Petersburg, written in March, 1843, he said: 

"I am sorry to hear that any of the Whigs of your county, 
or of any county, should longer be against conventions. On 
last Wednesday evening a meeting of all the Whigs then here 
from all parts of the State was held, and the question of the 
propriety of conventions was brought up and fully discussed, 
and at tlie end of the discussion a resolution recommending 
the system of conventions to all the Whigs of the State was 
unanimously adopted. Other resolutions were also passed, 
all of which will appear in the next 'Journal' The meeting 
also appointed a committee to draft an address to the people 
of the State, wdiich address will also appear in the next 'Jour- 
nal.* In it you will find a brief argument in favor of con- 
ventions, and, although I wrote it myself, I ivill say to you 
(13) 



194 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

that it is conclusive upon the point, and cannot be reasonabh 
answered. 

"If there be any good Whig who is disposed still to stick 
out against conventions, get him, at least, to read the argu- 
ment in their favor in the 'Address.' " 

The "brief argument" which Lincoln thought so conclu- 
sive, "if he did write it himself," justified his good opinion. 
After its circulation there were few found to "stick out 
against conventions." 

The Whigs of the various counties in the Congressional 
district met on April 5, as they had been instructed to do, 
and chose delegates. John J. Hardin of Jacksonville, Ed- 
ward D. Baker and Abraham Lincoln of Springfield, were 
the three candidates for whom these delegates were in- 
structed. 

To Lincoln's keen disappointment, the delegation from 
Sangamon county was instructed for Baker. A variety of 
social and personal influences, besides Baker's popularity, 
worked against Lincoln. "It would astonish, if not amuse, 
the older citizens," wrote Lincoln to a friend, "to learn that 
I (a stranger, friendless, uneducated, penniless boy, working 
on a flatboat at ten dollars per month) have been put down 
here as the candidate of pride, wealth, and aristocratic family 
distinction." He was not only accused of being an aristo- 
crat, he was called "a deist." He had fought, or been about 
to fight, a duel. His wife's relations were Episcopalian and 
Presbyterian. He and she attended a Presbyterian church. 
These influences alone could not be said to have defeated 
him, he wrote, but "they levied a tax of considerable per cent, 
upon my strength." 

The meeting that named Baker as its choice for Congress 
appointed Lincoln one of the delegates to the convention. 
"In getting Baker the nomination," Lincoln wrote to Speed, 
''I shall be fixed a good deal like a fellow who is made a 



BECOMES A CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS 195 

groomsman to a man that has cut him out, and is marrying 
his own dear 'gal.' " From the first, however, he stood 
bravely by Baker. "I feel myself bound not to hinder him in 
any way from getting the nomination; 1 should despise my- 
self were 1 to attempt it," he wrote certain of his constituents 
who were anxious that he should attempt to secure the nomi- 
nation in spite of his instructions. It was soon evident to 
both Lincoln and Baker that John J. Hardin was probably 
the strongest candidate in the district, and so it proved when 
the convention met in May, 1843, ^^ Pekin. 

It has frequently been charged that in this Pekin conven- 
tion, Hardin, Baker, and Lincoln agreed to take in turn the 
three next nominations to Congress, thus establishing a spe- 
cies of rotation in office. This charge cannot be sustained. 
What occurred at the Pekin C(^nvention is here related by 
one of the delegates, the Hon. J. M. Ruggles of Havana, 
Illinois. 

"When the convention assembled," writes Mr. Ruggles, 
"Baker was there with his friend and champion delegate, 
Abraham Lincoln. The ayes and noes had been taken, and 
there were fifteen votes apiece, and one in doubt that had not 
arrived. That was myself. I was known to be a warm 
friend of Baker, representing people who were partial to 
Hardin. As soon as I arrived Baker hurried to me, saying : 
'How is it ? It all depends on you.' On being told that not- 
withstanding my partiality for him, the people I represented 
expected me to vote for Hardin, and that I would have t^ 
do so, Baker at once replied : 'You are right — tliere is no 
other way.' The convention was organized, and I was elected 
secretary. Baker immediately arose, and made a most thrill- 
ing address, thoroughly arousing the sympathies of the con- 
vention, and ended by declining his candidacy. Hardin was 
nominated by acclamation ; and then came the episode. 

"Immediately after the nomination, Mr. Lincoln walked 
across the room to my table, and asked if I would favor a 
resolution recommending Baker for the next term. On be- 



196 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

ing answered in the affirmative, he said: 'You prepare the 
resolution, I will support it, and I think we can pass it.' The 
resolution created a profound sensation, especially with the 
friends of Hardin. After an excited and angry discussion, 
the resolution passed by a majority of one." 

Lincoln supported Hardin energetically in the campaign 
which followed. In a letter to the former written on May 
I ith, just after the convention, he says : 

"Butler informs me that he received a letter from you in 
which you expressed some doubt as to whether the Whigs of 
Sangamon will support you cordially. You may at once dis- 
miss all fears on that subject. We have already resolved to 
make a i)articular effort to give you the very largest majority 
possible in our county. From this no Whig of the county 
dissents. We have many objects for doing it. We make it 
a matter of honor and pride to do it ; we do it because we love 
the Whig cause; we do it because we like you personally; 
and, last, we wish to convince you that we do not bear that 
hatred to Morgan County that you people have seemed so 
long to imagine. You will see by the 'Journal' of this week 
that we propose, upon pain of losing a barbecue, to give you 
twice as great a majority in this county as you shall receive 
in your own. I got up the proposal." 

Lincoln was true to his promise and after Hardin was 
elected and in Washington he kept him informed of much 
that went on in the district ; thus in an amusing letter written 
in May, 1844, while the latter was in Congress, he tells him 
of one disgruntled constituent who must be pacified, giving 
him, at the same time, a hint as to the temper of the "Loco- 
focos." 

"Knowing that you have correspondents enough, T have 
forborne to trouble you heretofore," he writes ; "and I now 
only do so to get you to set a matter right which has got 
wrong with one of our best friends. It is old Uncle Thomas 
Campbell of Spring Creek (Berlin P. O.). He has received 



BECOMES A CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS 197 

several documents from you. and he says they are old news- 
papers and old documents, having no sort of interest in them. 
He is, therefore, getting a strong impression that you treat 
him with disrespect. This, I know, is a mistaken impres- 
sion, and you must correct it. The way, I leave to yourself. 
Robert W. Canfield says he would like to have a document 
or two from you. 

"The Locos here are in considerable trouble about Van 
Buren's letter on Texas, and the Virginia electors. They are 
growing sick of the tariff question, and consequently are 
much confounded at Van Buren's cutting them off from the 
new Texas question. Nearly half tlie leaders swear they 
won't stand it. Of those are Ford, T. Campbell, Ewing, 
Calhoun, and others. They don't exactly say they won't go 
for Van Buren, but they say he will not be the candidate, and 
that iJicy are for Texas anyhow." 

The resolution passed at the Pekin convention in 1843 "^^^^^ 
remembered and respected by the Whigs when the time came 
to nominate Hardin's successor. Baker was selected and 
elected, Lincoln working for him as loyally as he had for 
Hardin. In this campaign — that of 1844 — Lincoln was a 
presidential elector. He went into the canvass with unusual 
ardor for Henry Clay was the candidate and Lincoln shared 
the popular idolatry of the man. His devotion was not 
merely a sentiment, however. He had been an intelligent 
student of Clay's public life, and his sympathy was all with 
the principles of the "gallant Harry of the West." Through- 
out the campaign he worked zealously, travelling all over the 
State, speaking and talking. As a rule, he was accompanied 
by a Democrat. The two went unannounced, simply stop- 
ping at some friendly house. On their arrival the word was 
sent around, "the candidates are here," and the men of the 
neighborhood gathered to hear the discussion, which was car- 
ried on in the most informal way, the candidates frequently 
sitting tipped back against the side of the house, or perched 
on a rail, wdiittling during- the debates. Nor was all of this 



198 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

electioneering done by argument. Many votes were still 
cast in Illinois out of personal liking, and the wily candidate 
did his best to make himself agreeable, particularly to the 
women of the household. The Hon. William L. D. Ewing, 
a Democrat who travelled with Lincoln in one campaign, 
used to tell a story of how he and Lincoln were eager to 
win the favor of one of their hostesses, whose husband was 
an important man in his neighborhood. Neither had made 
much progress until at milking-time Mr. Ewing started after 
the woman of the house as she went to the yard, took her 
pail, and insisted on milking the cow himself. He naturally 
felt that this was a master stroke. But receiving no reply 
from the hostess, to whom he had been talking loudly as he 
milked, he looked around, only to see her and Lincoln lean- 
ing comfortably over the bars, engaged in an animated dis- 
cussion. By the time he had completed his self-imposed task, 
Lincoln had captivated the hostess, and all Mr. Ewing re- 
ceived for his pains was hearty thanks for giving her a 
chance to have so pleasant a talk with Mr. Lincoln. 

Lincoln's speeches at this time were not confined to his 
own State. He made several in Indiana, being invited 
thither by prominent Whig politicians who had heard him 
speak in Illinois. The first and most important of his meet- 
ings in Indiana was at Bruceville. The Democrats, learning 
of the proposed Whig gathering, arranged one, for the same 
evening, with Lieutenant William W. Carr of Vincennes as 
speaker. As might have been expected from the excited 
state of politics at the moment, the proximity of the two 
mass-meetings aroused party loyalty to a fighting pitch. 
"Each party was determined to break up the other's speak- 
ing," writes Miss O'Flynn, in a description of the Bruceville 
meeting prepared from interviews with those who took part 
in it. "The night was made hideous with the rattle of tin 
pans and belli and the blare of cow-horns. In spite of all 



BECOMES A CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS 199 

the din and uproar of the younger element, a few grown-up 
male radicals and partisan women sang and cheered loudly 
for their favorites, who kept on with their flow of political 
information. Lieutenant Carr stood in his carriage, and ad- 
dressed the crowd around him, while a local politician acted 
as grand marshal of the night, and urged the yelling Demo- 
cratic legion to surge to the schoolhouse, where Abraham 
Lincoln was speaking, and run the Whigs from their head- 
quarters. Old men now living, who were big boys then, can- 
not remember any of the burning eloquence of either speaker. 
As they now laughingly express it : 'We were far more in- 
terested in the noise than the success of the speakers, and we 
ran backward and forward from one camp to the other.' " 

Fortunately, the remaining speeches in Indiana were made 
under more dignified conditions. One was delivered at 
Rockport; another "from the door of a harness shop" near 
Gentryville, Lincoln's old home in Indiana; and a third at 
the "Old Carter School" in the same neighborhood. At the 
delivery of the last many of Lincoln's old neighbors were 
present, and they still tell of the cordial way in which he 
greeted them and inquired for old friends. After his speech 
he drove home with Mr. Josiah Crawford, for whom he had 
once worked as a day laborer. His interest in every familiar 
spot — a saw-pit where he had once worked — the old swim- 
ming pool, the town grocery, the mill, the blacksmith shop, 
surprised and flattered everybody. "He went round inspect- 
ing .everything." declares one of his hosts. So vivid were 
the memories which this visit to Gentryville aroused, so deep 
were Lincoln's emotions, that he even attempted to express 
them in verse. A portion of the lines he wrote have been 
preserved, the only remnants of his various early attempts 
at versification. 

In this campaign of 1844 Lincoln for the second time in 
his political life met the slaverv question. The chief issue of 



200 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

that campaign was the annexation of Texas. The Whigs, 
under Clay's leadership, opposed it. To annex Texas with- 
out the consent of Mexico would compromise our national 
reputation for fair dealing, Clay argued ; it would bring on 
war with Mexico, destroy the existing relations between 
North and South and compel the North to annex Canada, 
and it would tend to extend rather than restrict slavery. 

A large party of strong anti-slavery people in the North 
felt that Clay did not give enough importance to the anti- 
slavery argument and they nominated a third candidate, 
James G. Birney. This "Liberal Party" as it was called, had 
a fair representation in Illinois and Lincoln must have en- 
countered them frequently, though what arguments he used 
against them, if any, we do not know, no extracts of his 1844 
speeches being preserved. 

The next year, 1845, ^^^ found the abolition sentiment 
stronger than ever. Prominent among the leaders of the 
third party in the State were two brothers, Williamson and 
Madison Durley of Hennepin, Illinois. They were outspo- 
ken advocates of their principles, and even operated a sta- 
tion of the underground railroad. Lincoln knew the Dur- 
leys, and, when visiting Hennepin to speak, solicited their 
support. They opposed their liberty principles. When Lin- 
coln returned to Springfield he wrote Williamson Durley a 
letter which sets forth with admirable clearness his exact 
position on the slavery question at that period. It is the 
most valuable document on the question which we have up 
to this point in Lincoln's life. 

"When I saw^ you at home," Lincoln began, "it was agreed 
that I should write to you and your brother Madison. Until 
I then saw you I was not aware of your being what is gen- 
erally called an Aboliticmist, or, as you call yourself, a Lib- 
erty man, though I well knew there were many such in your 
county. 



BECOMES A CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS 20I 

"I was glad to hear that you intended to attempt to bring 
aboutj at the next election in Putnam, a union of the Whigs 
proper and such of the Liberty men as are Whigs in principle 
on all questions save only that of slavery. So far as 1 can 
perceive, by such union neither party need yield anything on 
the point in difference between them. If the Whig abolition- 
ists of New York had voted with us last fall, Mr. Clay would 
now be President, Whig principles in the ascendant, and 
Texas not annexed ; whereas, by the division, all that either 
had at stake in the contest was lost. And, indeed, it was ex- 
tremely probable, beforehand, that such would be the result. 
As I always understood, the Liberty men deprecated the an- 
nexation of Texas extremely ; and this being so, why they 
should refuse to cast their votes (so) as to prevent it, even 
to me seemed wonderful. What was their process of rea- 
soning, I can only judge from what a single one of them told 
me. It was this : 'We are not to do cz'il that good may come.' 
This general proposition is doubtless correct; but did it ap- 
ply ? If by your votes you could have prevented the exten- 
sion, etc., of slavery, would it not have been good, and not 
evil, so to have used your votes, even though it involved the 
casting of them for a slave-holder? By the fniit the tree is 
to be known. An ez'il tree cannot l)ring forth good fruit. If 
the fruit of electing Mr. Clay would have been to prevent the 
extension of slavery, could the act of electing have been evil ? 

"But I will not argue further. I perhaps ought to say that 
individually I never w^as much interested in the Texas ques- 
tion. I never could see much good to come of annexation, 
inasmuch as they were already a free republican people on 
our own model. On the otlier hand, I never couUl very 
clearly see how the annexation would rugment the evil of 
slavery. It always seemed to me that slaves would be taken 
there in about equal numbers, with or without annexation. 
And if more were taken because of annexation, still there 
would be just so many the fewer left where they were taken 
from. It is possibly true, to some extent, that, with annexa- 
tion, some slaves may be sent to Texas and continued in 
slavery that otherwise might have been liberated. To what- 
ever extent this may be true, I think annexation an evil. I 
hold it to be a paramount duty of us in the free States, due 
to the Union of the States, and perhaps to liberty itself 



20-2 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

(paradox though it may seem), to let the slavery of the othet 
States alone; while, on the other hand, I hold it to be equally 
clear that we should never knowingly lend ourselves, directl}! 
or indirectly, to prevent that slavery from dying a natural 
death — to find new places for it to live in, when it can no 
longer exist in the old. Of course I am not now consider- 
ing what would be our duty in cases of insurrection among 
the slaves. To recur to the Texas question, I understand the 
Liberty men to have viewed annexation as a much greater 
evil than ever I did; and I would like to convince you, if I 
could, that they could have prevented it, without violation of 
principle, if they had chosen." 

At the time that Lincoln wrote the above letter to the 
Durley brothers he was working for a nomination to Con- 
gress. In 1843 he had helped elect his friend Hardin. He 
had secured the nomination for Baker in 1844 and had 
worked faithfully to elect him. Now he felt that his duty to 
his friends was discharged and that he was free to try for 
himself. He undoubtedly hoped that neither of his friends 
would contest the nomination. Baker did not but late in 
1845 it became evident that Hardin might. Lincoln was 
worried over the prospect. "The paper at Pekin has nomi- 
nated Hardin for governor," he wrote his friend B. F. James 
in November, "and, commenting on this, the Alton papers 
indirectly nominated him for Congress. It would give Har- 
din a great start, and perhaps use me up, if the Whig papers 
of the district should nominate him for Congress. If your 
feelings toward me are the same as when you saw me (which 
I have no reason to doubt), I wish you would let nothing 
appear in your paper which may operate against me. You 
understand. Matters stand just as they did when I saw you. 
Baker is certainly off the track, and I fear Hardin intends 
to be on it." 

Hardin certainly was free to run for Congress if he 
wanted to. He had voluntarily declined the nomination in 



BECOMES A CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS 203 

1844, because of the events of the Pekin convention, but he 
had made no promise to do so in 1846. Many of the Whigs 
of the district had not expected him to be a candidate, how 
ever, arguing that Lincohi, l)ecause of his relation to the 
party, should be given his turn. "We do not entertain a 
dou1)t," wrote the editor of the "Sangamon Journal," in 
February, 1846, "that if we could reverse the positions of 
the two men, a very large portion of those who now support 
Mr. Lincoln most warmly would support General Hardin 
quite as well. " 

As time went on and Lincoln found in all probability that 
Hardin would enter the race, it made him anxious and a 
little melancholy. In writing to his friend Dr. Robert Boal of 
Lacon, Illinois, on January 7, 1846, he said: 

"Since I saw you last fall, I have often thought of writing 
you, as it was then understood I would ; but, on reflection, I 
have always found that I had nothing new to tell you. All 
has happened as I then told you I expected it would — Baker's 
declining, Hardin's taking the track, and so on. 

"If Hardin and I stood precisely equal — that is, if neither 
of us had been to Congress, or if we both had — it would not 
only accord with what I have always done, for the sake of 
peace, to give way to him ; and I expect I should do it. That 
I can voluntarily postpone my pretensions, when they are no 
more tlian equal to those to which they are postponed, you 
have yourself seen. But to yield to Hardin under present 
circumstances seems to me as nothing else than yielding to 
one who would gladly sacrifice me altogether. This I would 
rather not submit to. That Hardin is talented, energetic, 
unusually generous and magnanimous, I have, before this, 
affirmed to you, and do not now deny. You know that my 
only argument is that 'turn aoout is fair play.' This he, prac- 
tically at least, denies. 

"If it would not be taxing you too much, I wish you would 
write me, telling the aspect of things in your county, or 
rather your district ; and also send the names of some of your 
Whig neighbors to whom I might, with propriety, write, 



^04 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Unless I can get some one to do this, Hardin, with his cM 
franking list, will have the advantage of me. My reliance 
for a fair shake (and 1 want nothing more) in your county 
is chiefly on you, because of your position and standing, and 
because I am acquainted with so few others. Let me hear 
from you soon." 

Lincoln followed the vibrations of feeling in the various 
counties with extreme nicety, studying every individual 
whose loyalty he suspected or whose vote was not yet 
pledged. "Nathan Dresser is here," he wrote to his friend 
Bennett, on January 15, 1846, "and speaks as though the 
contest between Hardin and me is to be doubtful in Menard 
county. I know he is candid, and this alarms me some. I 
asked him to tell me the names of the men that were going 
strong for Hardin ; he said Morris was about as strong as 
any. Now tell me, is Morris going it openly ? You remem- 
ber you wrote me that he would be neutral. Nathan also 
said that some man (who he could not remember) had said 
lately that Menard county was again to decide the contest, 
and that made the contest very doubtful. Do you know who 
that was ? 

"Don't fail me to write me instantly on receiving, telling 
me all — particularly the names of those who are going strong 
against me." 

In January, General Hardin suggested that since he and 
Lincoln were the only persons mentioned as candidates, there 
be no convention, but the selection be left to the Whig voters 
of the district. Lincoln refused. 

"It seems to me." he wrote Hardin, "that on reflection ycu 
v\'-ill see the fact of your having been in Congress has, in 
various ways, so spread your name in the district as to give 
you a decided advantage in such a stijnilation. I appreciate 
your desire to keep down excitement; and I promise you to 
'keep cool' under all circumstances. ... I have alway;.- 
been in the habit of acreding to almost any proposal tlr^t a 



BECOMES A CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS 20$ 

friend would make, and I am truly sorry that I cannot in 
this. I perhaps ought to mention that some friends at dif- 
ferent places are endeavoring to secure the honor of the sit- 
ting of the convention at their towns respectively, and I fear 
that they would not feel mucli complimented if we shall 
make a bargain that it should sit nowhere." 

After General Hardin received this refusal he withdrew 
from the contest, in a manly and generous letter which was 
warmly approved by the Whigs of the district. Both men 
were so much loved that a break between them would have 
been a disastrous thing for the party. "We are truly glad 
that a contest which in its nature was calculated to weaken 
the ties of friendship has terminated amicably," said the 
Sangamon "Journal." 

The charge that Hardin, Baker, and Lincoln tried to 
ruin one another in this contest for Congress has often 
been denied by their associates, and never more em- 
phatically than by Judge Gillespie, an influential politician of 
the State. "Hardin," Judge Gillespie says, "was one of the 
most unflinching and unfaltering Whigs that ever drew the 
breath of life. He was a mirror of chivahy, and so was 
Baker. Lincoln had boundless respect for, and confidence in, 
them both. He knew they would sacrifice themselves rather 
than do an act that could savor in the slightest degree of 
meanness or dishonor. These men, Lincoln, Hardin and 
Baker, were bosom friends, to my certain knowledge. 
Lincoln felt that they could be actuated by nothing but the 
most honorable sentiments towards him. For although they 
were rivals, they were all three men of the most punctilious 
honor, and devoted friends. I knew them intimately, and 
can say confidently that there never was a particle of envy on 
the Dart of one towards the other. The rivalrv between them 
was of the most honorable and friendly character, and when 
Hardin and Baker were killed (Hardin in ]\Iexico, and Bake*" 



206 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

at Ball's Bluff) Lincoln felt thai; in the death of each he had 
lost a dear and true friend." 

After Hardin's withdrawal, Lincoln went about in his 
characteristic w-ay trying to soothe his and Hardin's friends. 
"Previous to General Hardin's withdrawal," he wrote one of 
his correspondents, "some of his friends and some of mine 
had become a little warm ; and I felt . . . that for them 
now to meet face to face and converse together was the best 
WcY to efface any remnant of unpleasant feeling, if any such 
existed. I did not sup])()se that General Hardin's friends 
were in any greater need ui having their feelings corrected 
than mine were." 

In May, Lincoln was nominated. His Democratic oppo- 
nent \vas Peter CartwTight, the famous Methodist exhorter, 
the most famous itinerant preacher of the pioneer era. Cart- 
wright had moved from Kentucky to Illinois when still a 
young man to get into a free State, and had settled in the 
Sangamon valley, near Springfield. For the next forty years 
he travelled over the State, most of the time on horseback, 
preaching the gospel in his unique and rugged fashion. His 
district was at first so large (extending from Kaskaskia to 
Galena) that he was unable to traverse the w-hole of it in the 
same year. He was elected to the legislature in 1828 and 
again in 1832 ; Lincoln, in the latter year, being an opposing 
candidate. In 1840 when he was the Democratic nominee 
for Congress against Lincoln he was badly beaten. Cart- 
Mright now made an energetic canvass, his chief weapon 
against Lincoln l)eing the old charges of atheism and aris- 
tocracy; but they failed of effect, and in August, Lincoln 

was elected. 

The contest over, sudden and characteristic disillusion 
seized him. " Being elected to Congress, though I am grate- 
ful to our friends for having done it, has not pleased me as 
much as I expected," he wrote Speed. 



CHAPTER XIII 

LINCOLN IN VVASillNGlON IN 1 847 HE OPPOSES THE MEXI- 
CAN WAR CAMPAIGNING IN NEW ENGLAND 

In November, 1847, Lincoln started for Washington. The 
city in 1848 was Httle more than the oiithne of the Washing- 
ton of 1899. The capitol was without the present wings, 
dome, or western terrace. The White House, the City Hall, 
the Treasury, the Patent Office, and the Post-Office were the 
only public buildings standing then which have not been re- 
built or materially changed. The streets were unpaved, and 
their dust in summer and mud in winter are celebrated in 
every record of the period. The parks and circles were still 
unplanted. Near the White House were a few fine old homes, 
and Capitol Hill was partly built over. Although there were 
deplorable wastes between these two points, the majority of 
tbe jieople lived in the southeastern part of the city, on or 
near Pennsylvania avenue. The winter that Lincoln was in 
Washington, Daniel Webster lived on Louisiana avenue, 
near Sixth street; vSpeaker Winthrop and Thomas H. Ben- 
ton on C street, near Third; John Ouincy Adams and James 
Buchanan, the latter then Secretary of State, on F street, be- 
tween Thirteenth and Fourteenth. Many of the senators and 
congressmen were in hotels, the leading ones of which were 
Willard's, Coleman's, Gadsby's, Brown's, Young's, Fuller's, 
and the United States. Stephen A. Douglas, who was in 
Washington for his first term as senator, lived at Willard's. 
So inadequate were the hotel accommodations during the ses- 
sions that visitors to the town were frecfuently oliliged to ac- 
cept most uncomfortable makeshifts for beds. Seward, vis- 

207 



2oS LIFE OF LINCOLN 

iting the city in 1847, tells of sleeping on "a cot between two 
beds occupied by strangers." 

The larger number of members lived in "messes," a species 
of boarding-club, over which the owner of the house occupied 
usually presided. The "National Intelligencer" of the day is 
sprinkled with announcements of persons "prepared to ac- 
commodate a mess of members." Lincoln went to live in one 
of the best known of these clubs, ]^Irs. Spriggs's, in "Duff 
Green's Row," on Capitol Hill. This famous row has now 
entirely disappeared, the ground on which it stood being oc- 
cupied by the Congressional Library. 

At Mrs. Spriggs's, Lincoln had as mess-mates several 
congressmen : A. R. Mcllvaine, James Pollock, John Strohm, 
and John Blanchard, all of Pennsylvania, Patrick Tompkins 
of Mississippi, Joshua R. Giddings of Ohio, and Elisha Em- 
bree of Indiana. Among his neighbors in messes on Capitol 
Hill were Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, Alexander H. 
Stephens of Georgia, and Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. 
One of the members of the mess at Mrs. Spriggs's in the win- 
ter of 1847-1848 was Dr. S. C. Busey of Washington, D. C. 

" I soon learned to know and admire Lincoln," says Dr. 
Busey in his " Personal Reminiscences and Recollections," 
" for his simple and unostentatious manners, kind-hearted- 
ness, and amusing jokes, anec(k)tes, and witticisms. When 
about to tell an anecdote during a meal he would lay down 
his knife and fork, place his elbows upon the table, rest his 
face between his hands, and begin with the words, ' That re- 
minds me,' and proceed. Everybody prepared for the ex- 
plosion sure to follow. T recall with vivid pleasure the scene 
of merriment at the dinner after his first speech in the House 
of Representatives, occasioned by the descriptions, by him- 
self and others of the congressional mess, of the uproar in 
the House during its delivery. 

"Congressman Lincoln was always neatly but very plainly 
dressed, very simple and approachable in manner, and unpre- 



Hill ;l:iiliUlil«i«iffllik>;MlB^^ 




XHE EARLIEST PORTRAIT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. ABOUT 1848. AGE 39 

From the original daguerreotype, owned by Mr. Lincoln's son, the Hon. Kobert T. Lin- 
n, through whose courtesy it was first published in "McClure's Magazine" for Novem- 
', 1895. It was afterwards republished in the McClui-e "Life of Lincoln," and in the 
entury Magazine " for February, 1897 



IN WASHINGTON IN i<S47 209 

lentious. He attended to his business, going promptly to the 
House and remaining till the session adjourned, and ap- 
peared to be familiar with the progress of legislation." 

The town otTered then little in the way of amusement. The 
Adelphi theater was opened that winter for the first time, and 
presented a variety of mediocre plays. At the Olympia were 
"lively and beautiful exhibitions of model artists." Herz and 
Sivori, the pianists, then touring in the United States, played 
several times in the season ; and there was a Chinese museum. 
Add the exhibitions of Brown's paintings of the heroes of 
Palo Alto, Resaca, Monterey, and Buena Vista, and of Pow- 
ers's "Greek Slave," the performances of Dr. Valentine, "De- 
lineator of Eccentricities," a few lectures, and numerous 
church socials, and you have about all there was in the way 
of public entertainments in Washington in 1848. But of din- 
ners, receptions, and official gala affairs there were many. 
Lincoln's name appears frequently in the "National Intelli- 
gencer" on committees to offer dinners to this or that great 
man. In the spring of 1849 ^''^ ^"^'^^ o"^ o^ ^^^^ managers of 
the inaugural ball given to Taylor. His friend Washburn re- 
calls an amusing incident of Lincoln at this ball. "A small 
number of mutual friends," says Mr. Washburn, "including 
Mr. Lincoln, made up a party to attend the inauguration ball 
together. It was by far the most brilliant inauguration ball 
ever given. Of course Mr. Lincoln had never seen anything 
of the kind before. One of the most modest and unpretend- 
ing persons present, he could not have dreamed that like hon- 
ors were to come to him, almost within a little more than a 
decade. He was greatly interested in all that was to be seen, 
and we did not take our departure until three or four o'clock 
in the morning. When we went to the cloak and hat room, 
Mr. Lincoln had no trouble in finding his short cloak, which 
little more than covered his shoulders, but, after a long 
"^f^arch was unable to find his hat. After an hour he gave up 



2IO LIFE OF LINCOLN 

all idea of finding it. Taking his cloak on his arm, he walked 
out into Judiciary square, deliberately adjusting it on his 
shoulders, and started off bare-headed for his lodgings. It 
would be hard to forget the sight of that tall and slim man, 
with his short cloak thrown over his shoulders, starting for 
his long walk home on Capitol Hill, at four o'clock in the 
morning, without any hat on." 

Another reminiscence of his homely and independent ways 
comes from the librarian of the Supreme Court at that pe- 
riod, through Lincoln's friend, Washburn. JMr. Lincoln, the 
story goes, came to the library one day for the purpose of 
procuring some law books which he wanted to take to his 
room for examination. Getting together all the books he 
wanted, he placed them in a pile on a table. Taking a large 
bandana handkerchief from his pocket, he tied them up, and 
putting a stick which he had l)rought with him through a 
knot he had made in the handkerchief, he shouldered the 
package and marched off from the library to his room. In 
a few days he returned the books in the same way. 

Lincoln's simple, sincere friendliness and his quaint humor 
soon won him a sure, if quiet, social position in Washington. 
He was frequently invited to Mr. Webster's Saturday break- 
fasts, where his stories were highly relished for their origi- 
nality and drollery. Dr. Busey recalls his popularity at one 
of the leading places of amusement on Capitol Hill. 

"Congressman Lincoln was very fond of bowling," he 
says, "and would frequently join others of the mess, or meet 
other members in a match game, at the alley of James Cas- 
paris, which was near the boarding-house. He was a very 
awkward bowler, but played the game with great zest and 
spirit, solely for exercise and amusement, and greatly to the 
enjoyment and entertainment of the other players and by- 
standers by his criticisms and funny illustrations. He ac- 
cepted success and defeat with like good nature and humor, 
and left the allcv at the conclusion of the crame without a 



IN WASHINGTON IN 1847 211 

sorrow or disappointment. When it was known that he was 
in the alley, there would assemble numbers of people to wit- 
ness the fun which was anticipated by those wlio knew of his 
fund of anecdotes and jokes. When in the alley, surrounded 
by a crowd of eager listeners, he indulged with great free- 
dom in the sport of narrati\e, some of which were very 
broad. His witticisms seemed for the most part to be im- 
promptu, but he always told the anecdotes and jokes as if he 
wished to convey the impression that he had heard them 
from some one ; but they appeared very many times as if they 
had been made for the immediate occasion." 

Another place where he became at home and wa'^ much 
appreciated was in the post-office at the Capitol. 

"During the Christmas holidays," says Ben. Perley Poore, 
" Mr. Linc(^ln found his way into the small room used as the 
post-office of the House, where a few jovial raconteurs used 
to meet almost every morning, after the mail had been dis- 
tributed into the members' boxes, to exchange such new 
stories as any of them might have acquired since they had 
last met. After modestly standing at the door for several 
days, Mr. Lincoln was reminded of a story, and by New 
Year's he w^as recognized as the champion story-teller of the 
Capitol. His favorite seat was at the left of the open fire- 
place, tilted back in his chair, with his long legs reaching over 
to the chimney jamb. He never told a story twice, but ap- 
peared to have an endless repertoire of them always ready, 
like the successive charges in a magazine gun, and always 
pertinently adapted to some passing event. It was refresh- 
ing to us correspondents, compelled as we were to listen to 
so much that was prosy and tedious, to hear this bright si)eci- 
men of western genius tell his inimitable stories, especially 
his reminiscences of the Black Hawk war." 

But Lincoln had gone to Washington for work, and he at 
once interested himself in the Whig organization formed to 
elect the officers of the House. There was only a small Whig 
majority, and it took skill and energy to keep the offices in 



212 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

the party. Lincoln's share in achieving this result was gen- 
erally recognized. As late as i860, twelve years after the 
struggle, Robert C Winthrop of Massachusetts, who was 
elected speaker, said in a speech in Boston wherein he dis- 
cussed Lincoln's nomination to the Presidency : "You will 
be sure that I remember him with interest, if I may be al- 
lowed to remind you that he helped to make me the speaker 
of the Thirtieth Congress, when the vote was a very close 
and strongly contested vote." 

A week after Congress organized, Lincoln wrote to 
Springfield: "As you are all so anxious for me to distin- 
guish myself, I have concluded to do so before long;" and he 
did it — but not exactly as his Springfield friends wished. The 
United States was then at war with Mexico, a war that the 
Whigs abhorred. Lincoln had used his influence against it; 
but, hostilities declared, he had publicly affirmed that every 
loyal man must stand by the army. Many of his friends, 
Hardin, Baker, and Shields, among others, were at that mo- 
ment in Mexico. Lincoln had gone to Washington intend- 
ing to say nothing in opposition to the war. But the admin- 
istration wished to secure from the Whigs not only votes of 
supplies and men, but a resolution declaring that the war wa:^ 
just and right. Lincoln, with others of his party in Congress, 
refused his sanction and voted for a resolution offered by Mr. 
Ashburn, which declared that the war had been "unnecessa- 
rily and unconstitutionally" begun. On December 22d he 
made his debut in the House by the famous " Spot Resolu- 
tions," a series of searching questions so clearly put, so 
strong historically and logically, that they drove the admin- 
istration from the "spot" where the war began, and showed 
that it had been the aggressor in the conquest. The resolu- 
tion ran : — 

^'Whereas, The President of the United States, in his 
message of Mav 11, 1846, has declared that 'the Mexican 



IN WASHINGTON IN 1847 2r;, 

Government not only refused to receive him (^llie envoy of 
tlie United States), or to listen to his propositions, but. after 
a long-continued series of menaces, has at last invaded our 
territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our 
own soil.' 

"And again, in his message of December 8, 1846, that ' we 
had ample cause of war against Mexico long before the 
breaking out of hostilities ; but even then we forbore to take 
redress into our own hands until Mexico herself became the 
aggressor, by invading our soil in hostile array, and shedding 
the blood of our citizens.' 

" And yet again, in his message of December 7, 1847, that 
' the Mexican Government refused even to hear the terms of 
adjustment which he (our minister of peace) was authorized 
to propose, and finally, under wholly unjustifiable pretexts, 
involved the two countries in war, by invading the territory 
of the State of Texas, striking the first blow, and shedding 
the blood of our citizens on our own soil.' 

"And whereas, This House is desirous to obtain a full 
knowledge of all the facts which go to establish whether the 
particular spot on which the blood of our citizens was so shed 
was or was not at that time our own soil : therefore, 

" Resolved, by the House of Representatives, that the 
President of the United States be respectfully requested to 
inform this House — 

" First. Whether the spot on which the blood of our citi- 
zens was shed, as in his message declared, was or was not 
within the territory of Spain, at least after the treaty of 18 ig 
until the Mexican revolution. 

" Second. Whether that spot is or is not within the terri- 
tory which was wrested from Spain by the revolutionary 
Government of Mexico. 

" Third. Whether that spot is or is not within a settlement 
of people, which settlement has existed ever since long be- 
fore the Texas revolution, and until its inhabitants fled be- 
fore the approach of the United States army. 

" Fourth. Whether that settlement is or is not isolated 
from any and all other settlements by the Gulf and the Rio 
Grande on the south and west, and by wide uninhabited 
regions on the north ind east. 



214 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



" Fifth. Whether the people of that settlement, or a ma- 
jority of them, or any of them, have ever submitted them- 
selves to the government or laws of Texas or of the United 
States, by consent or by compulsion, either by accepting 
office, or voting at elections, or paying tax, or serving on 
juries, or having process served upon them, or in any other 
way. 

" Sixth. Whether the people of that settlement did or did 
not flee from the approach of the United States army, leav- 
ing unprotected their homes and their growing crops, before 
the Idood was shed, as in the message stated ; and whether the 
hrst blood, so shed, was or was not shed wdthin the inclosure 
of one of the people who had thus fled from it. 

" Seventh. W^iether our citizens, whose blood was shed, as 
in his message declared, were or were not, at that time, armed 
officers and soldiers, sent into that settlement by the military 
order of the President, through the Secretary of War. 

" Eighth. Wdiether the military force of the United States 
was or was not so sent into that settlement after General 
Taylor had more than once intimated to the \\'ar Depart- 
ment that, in his opinion, no such movement was necessary to 
the defence or protection of Texas." 

In January Lincoln followed up these resolutions with a 
speecli in support of his position. His action was much criti- 
cised in Illinois, where the sound of the drum and the intoxi- 
cation of victory had completely turned attention from the 
moral side of the question, and Lincoln found himself obliged 
to defend his position with even Mr. Herndon, his law part- 
ner, who, with many others, objected to Lincoln's voting for 
che Ashburn resolution. 

"That vote," wrote Lincoln in answer to Mr. Herndon's 
letter, "affirms that the war was unnecessarily and unconsti- 
tutionally commenced by the President ; and I will stake my 
life that if you had been in my ])lace you would have voted 
just as I did. Would you have voted what you felt and knew 
to be a lie? I know you would not. Would you have gone 
out of the House — skulked the vote? I ex])ect not. If you 
had skulked one vote, you would have had to skulk many 



IN WASHINGTON IN 1847 215 

more before the end of the session. Richardson's resokitions, 
introduced before I made any move or gave any vote upon 
the subject, make the direct question of the justice of the 
war; so that no man can be silent if he would. You are com- 
pelled to speak ; and your only alternative is to tell the truth 
)r a lie. I cannot doubt which you would do. 

" This vote has nothing to do in determining my votes on 
the questions of supplies. 1 have always intended, and still 
intend, to vote supplies ; perhaps not in the precise form rec- 
ommended by the President, but in a better form for all pur- 
poses, except Locofoco party purposes." * * * 

This determination to keep the wrong of the Mexican war 
before the people even while voting supplies for it Lincoln 
held to steadily. In May a pamphlet was sent him in which 
the author claimed that "in view of all the facts" the govern- 
ment of the United States had committed no aggression in 
Mexico. 

"Not in view of all the facts," Lincoln wrote him. "There 
are facts which you have kept out of view. It is a fact that 
the United States army in marching to the Rio Grande 
marched into a peaceful Mexican settlement, and frightened 
the inhabitants away from their homes and their growing 
crops. It is a fact that Fort Brown, opposite Matamoras, was 
built by that army within a Mexican cotton-field, on which at 
the time the army reached it a young cotton crop was grow- 
ing, and which crop was wholly destroyed and the field itself 
greatly and permanently injured by ditches, embankments, 
and the like. It is a fact that when the Mexicans captured 
Captain Thornton and his command, they found and cap- 
tured them within another Mexican field. 

" Now I wish to bring these facts to your notice, and to as- 
certain what is the result of your reflections upon them. If 
you deny that they are facts, 1 think I can furnish proofs 
which shall convince you that you are mistaken. If you ad- 
mit that they are facts, then 1 sliall be obliged for a reference 
to any law of language, law of States, law of nations, law of 
morals, law of religions, any law. human or divine, in which 
an authoritv can be found for saying those facts constitute 
No aggression.' 



2,6 L^FE OF LINCOLN 

"Possibly you consider those acts too small for notice. 
Would you venture to so consider them had they been com- 
mitted by any nation on earth against the humblest of our 
people? 1 know you would not. Then I ask, is the precept 
' Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye 
even so to them ' obsolete? of no force? of no application? " 

The routine work assigned Lincoln in the Thirtieth Con- 

^ gress was on the committee on the post-office and post roads. 

^ Several reports were made l)y him from this committee. 

These reports, with a speech on internal improvements, cover 

his published work in the House up to July. 

As the Whigs were to hold their national convention for 
nominating a candidate for the presidency in June, Lincoln 
gave considerable time during the spring to electioneering. 
In his judgment the Whigs could elect nobody but General 
Taylor and he urged his friends in Illinois to give up Henry 
Clay, to whom many of them still clung. "Mr. Clay's chance 
for an election," he wrote, "is just no chance at all." 

Lincoln went to the convention, which was held in Phila- 
delphia, and as he prophesied, "Old Rough and Ready" was 
nominated. He went back to Washington full of enthusiasm. 
"In my opinion we shall have a most overwhelming, glorious 
triumph," he wrote a friend. "One unmistakable sign is that 
all the odds and ends are with us — Barnburners, Native 
Americans, Tyler men, disappointed office-seekers, Locofo- 
cos, and the Lord knows what. This is important, if in noth- 
ing else, in showing which way the wind blows." 

In connection with Alexander II. Stephens, of whom he 
had become a warm friend, Toombs, and Preston, Lincoln 
formed the first Congressional Taylor club, known as the 
"Young Indians." Campaigning had already begun on the 
floor of Congress, and the members were daily making 
speeches for the various candidates. On July 27th Lincoln 
made a speech for Taylor. It was a boisterous election 



IN WASHINGTON IN 1847 217 

speech, full of merciless caricaturing, and delivered with ni- 
imitable drollery. It kept the House in an uproar, and was 
reported the country over by the Whig" press. The "Balti- 
more American," in giving a synopsis of it, called it the 
"crack speech of the day," and said of Lincoln: "He is a 
very able, acute, uncouth, honest, upright man, and a tremen- 
dous wag, withal. . . . Mr. Lincoln's manner was so 
good-natured, and his style so peculiar, that he kept the 
House in a continuous roar of merriment for the last half 
hour of his speech. He would commence a point in his speech 
far up one of the aisles, and keep on talking, gesticulating, 
and walking until he would find himself, at the end of a 
paragraph, down in the centre of the area in front of the 
clerk's desk. He would then go back and take another head, 
and zi'ork down again. And so on, through his capital 
speech." 

This speech, as well as the respect Lincoln's work in the 
House had inspired among the leaders of the party, brought 
him an invitation to deliver several campaign speeches in 
New England at the close of Congress, and he went there 
early in September. There was in New England, at that date, 
much strong anti-slavery feeling. The Whigs claimed to be 
"Free Soilers" as well as the party which appropriated that 
name, and Lincoln, in the first speech he made, defined care- 
fully his position on the slavery question. This was at Wor- 
cester, Massachusetts, on September 12th. The Whig State 
convention had met to nominate a candidate for governor, 
and the most eminent Whigs of Massachusetts were present. 
Curiously enough the meeting was presided over by ex-Gov- 
ernor Levi Lincoln, a descendant, like Abraham Lincoln, 
from the original Samuel of Hingham. There were many 
brilliant speeches made ; but if we are to trust the reports of 
the day, Lincoln's was the one which by its logic, its clear- 
ness, and its humor, did most for the Whig cause. "Gentle- 



2i8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

men inform me," says one Boston reporter, who came too 
late for the exercises, "that it was one of the best speeches 
ever heard in Worcester, and that several Whigs who had 
gone off on the "free soil" fizzle have come back again to the 
Whig ranks." 

A report of the speech was printed in the Boston "Adver- 
tiser." According to this report Lincoln spent the first part 
of his hour in defending General Taylor against the charge 
of having no principles and in proving him a good Whig. 

"Mr. Lincoln then passed," says the Advertiser, "to the 
subject of slavery in the States, saying that the people of Illi- 
nois agreed entirely with the people of Massachusetts on this 
subject, except, perhaps, that they did not keep so constantly 
thinking about it. All agreed that slavery was an evil, but 
that we were not responsible for it, and cannot affect it in 
States of this Union where we do not live. But the question 
of the extension of slavery to new territories of this country 
is a part of our responsibility and care, and is under our con- 
trol. In opposition to this Mr. Lincoln believed that the self- 
named 'Free Soil' party was far behind the Whigs. Both 
parties opposed the extension. As he understood it, the new 
party had no principle except this opposition. If their plat- 
form held any other, it was in such a general way that it 
was like the pair of pantaloons the Yankee peddler offered 
for sale, 'large enough for any man, small enough for any 
boy.' They therefore had taken a position calculated to break 
down their single important declared object. They were 
working for the election of either General Cass or General 
Taylor. The speaker then went on to show, clearly and elo- 
quently, the danger of extension of slavery likely to result 
from the election of General Cass. To unite with those who 
annexed the new territory, to prevent the extension of 
slavery in that territory, seemed to him to be in the highest 
degree absurd and ridiculous. Suppose these gentlemen suc- 
ceed in electing Mr. Van Buren, they had no rpecific means 
to prevent the extension of slavery to New Mexico and Cali- 
fornia; and General Taylor, he confidently believed, would 
not encourage it, and would not prohibit its restriction. But 



IN WASHINGTON IN 1847 219 

if General Cass was elected, he felt certain that the plans of 
farther extension of territory would be encouraged, and 
those of the extension of slavery would meet no check. The 
' Free Soil ' men, in claiming that name, indirectly attempt a 
deception, by implying that Whigs were not Free Soil men. 
In declaring that they would 'do their duty and leave the con- 
sequences to God,' they merely gave an excuse for taking a 
course they were not able to maintain by a fair and full argu- 
ment. To make this declaration did not show what their duty 
was. If it did, v;e should have no use for judgment; we 
might as well be made without intellect ; and when divine 
or human law does not clearly point out what is our duty, we 
have no means of finding out what it is but using our most 
intelligent judgment of the consequences. If there were di- 
vine law or human law for voting for Martin Van Buren, or 
if a fair examination of the consequences and first reasoning 
would show that voting for him would bring about the ends 
they pretended to wish, then he would give up the argument. 
But since there was no fixed law on the subject, and since 
the whole probable result of their action would be an assist- 
ance in electing General Cass, he must say that they were be- 
hind the Whigs in their advocacy of the freedom of the soil. 

"Mr. Lincoln proceeded to rally the Buffalo convention for 
forbearing to say anything — after all the previous declara- 
tions of those members who were formerly Whigs — on the 
subject of the Mexican War because the Van Burens had 
been known to iiave supported it. He declared that of all 
the parties asking the confidence of the country, this new one 
had less of principle than any other, 

"He wondered whether it was still the opinion of these 
Free Soil gentlemen, as declared in the ' whereas ' at Buffalo, 
that the Whig and Democratic parties were both entirely dis- 
solved and absorbed into their own body. Had the Vermont 
election given them any light? They had calculated on mak- 
ing as great an impression in that State as in any part of the 
Union, and there their attempts had been wholly ineffectual. 
Their failure there was a greater success than they would 
find in any other part of the Union. 

"At the close of this truly masterly and convincing 
speech," the "Advertiser" goes on, "the audience gave three 



2 20 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

enthusiastic cheers for IlHnois, and three more for the ela 
quent Whig member from that State." 

After the speech at Worcester, Lincoln spoke at Lowell, 
Dedham, Roxbury, Chelsea and Cambridge, and on Septem- 
ber 22d, in Tremont Temple, Boston, following a splendid 
oration by Governor Seward, His speech on this occasion 
was not reported, though the Boston papers united in call- 
ing it "powerful and convincing." His success at Worcester 
and Boston was such that invitations came from all over 
New England asking him to speak. 

But Lincoln won something in New England of vastly 
deeper importance than a reputation for making popular cam- 
paign speeches. Here for the first time he caught a glimpse 
of the utter impossibility of ever reconciling the northern 
conviction that slavery was evil and unendurable, and the 
southern claim that it was divine and necessary ; and he be- 
gan here to realize that something must be done. 

The first impression of slavery which Abraham Lincoln 
received was in his childhood in Kentucky. His father and 
mother belonged to a small company of western abolition- 
ists, who at the beginning of the century boldly denounced 
the institution as an iniquity. So great an evil did Thomas 
and Nancy Lincoln hold slavery that to escape it they were 
willing to leave their Kentucky home and move to a free 
State. Thus their boy's first notion of the institution was 
that it was something to flee from, a thing so dreadful that it 
was one's duty to go to pain and hardship to escape it. 

In his new home in Indiana he heard the debate on slavery 
go on. The State he had moved into was in a territory made 
free forever by the ordinance of 1787, but there were still 
slaves and belie\ers in slaxery within its boundaries and it 
took many years to eradicate them. Close to his Indiana 
home lay Illinois and here tlie same struggle went on 
throuHi all his bovhood. The lad was too thoughtful not 



IN WASHINGTON IN 1847 221 

to reflect on what he heard and read of the cUfferences of 
opinions on slavery. By the time the Statutes of Indiana 
feh into his hands — some time ])efore lie was eighteen years 
old — he had gathered a large amount of practical informa- 
tion about the question which he was able then to weigh in 
the light of the great principles of the Constitution, the 
ordinance of 1787, and the laws of Indiana, which he had 
begun to study with passionate earnestness. 

When he left Indiana for Illinois he continued to be 
thrown up against slavery. In his trip in 1831 to New Or- 
leans he saw its most terrible features. As a young legislator 
he saw the citizens of his town, and his fellows in the legis- 
lature ready to condemn as " dangerous agitators," those 
who dared call slavery an evil, saw them secretly sympa- 
thize with outlawrv like the Alton riot and the murder of 
Elijah Lovejoy. So keenly did he feel the danger of pass- 
ing resolutions against abolitionists which tacitly implied 
that slavery was as the South was beginning to claim, a di- 
vine institution that in 1837, he was one of the only two 
members of the Illinois assembly who were willing to pub- 
licly declare "that the institution of slavery is founded on 
both injustice and bad policy." 

From time to time as he travelled on the Mississippi and 
Ohio he saw the workings of slavery. In 1841 coming home 
from a visit to Louisville, Ky., he was in the same boat with 
a number of negroes, the sight so impressed him that he de- 
scribed it to a friend : 

" A gentleman had purchased twelve negroes in different 
parts of Kentucky, and was taking them to a farm in the 
South. They were chained six and six together. A small 
iron clevis was around the left wrist of each, and this fast- 
ened to the main chain by a shorter one, at a convenient dis- 
tance from the others, so that the negroes were strung to- 
gether precisely like so many fish upon a trout-line. In this 



?22 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

condition they were being separated forever from the scenes 
of their childhood, their friends, their fathers and mothers, 
and brothers and sisters, and many of them from their wives 
and children, and going into perpetual slavery, where the 
lash of the master is proverbially more ruthless and unre- 
lenting than any other where ; and yet amid all these distress- 
ing circumstances, as we would think them, they were the 
most cheerful and apparently happy creatures on board. One 
whose offense for which he had been sold was an over-fond- 
ness for his wife, played the fiddle almost continually, and 
the others danced, sang, cracked jokes, and played various 
games with cards from day to day. How true it is that 'God 
tempers the wind to the shorn lamb,' or in other words, that 
he renders the worst of human conditions tolerable, while he 
permits the best to be nothing better than tolerable." 

Runaway slaves, underground railway stations, masters 
and men tracking negroes, the occasional capture of a man or 
woman to be taken back to the South, trials of fugitives — all 
the features common in those years particularly in the States 
bordering on bond territory Lincoln saw. In 1847 he was 
even engaged to defend a slave-owner's claim, a case he lost, 
the negro being allowed to go free. 

It was not until 1844-45, however, that the matter 
became an important element in his political life. Hereto- 
fore it had been a moral cjuestion only, now, however, 
the annexation of Texas made it a political one. It became 
necessary that every politician and voter decide wdiether the 
new territory should be bond or free. The abolitionists or 
Liberty party grew rapidly in Illinois. Lincoln found himself 
obliged not only to meet Democratic arguments, but the abo- 
lition theories and convictions. When in 1847 ^^ went to 
Congress it was already evident that the Mexican war would 
be settled by the acquisition of large new territory. What 
was to be done with it ? The North had tried to forestall the 
South by bringing in a provision that whatever territory was 
acquired should be free forever. This Wilmot proviso as it 




THOMAS LINCOLN S HOME IN ILi.iN'U^ 

,' Thomas Lincoln in Ism, on Goose Neck Prairie, Coles County, Illinois. He died here in 
18 cabin was occupied until 1891, when it was bought by the Lincoln Log Cabin Associa- 
shown at the World's Fair in 1893. 



IN WASHINGTON IN 1847 223 

was called from the name of the originator, went through as 
many forms as Proteus, though its intent was always the 
same. From first to last Lincoln voted for it. "1 may ven- 
ture to say that I voted for it at least forty times during the 
short time I was there," he said in after years. Althougli 
he voted so persistently he did little or no debating on the 
question in the House and in the hot debates from wdiich he 
could not escape, he acted as a peace-maker. 

At Mrs. Spriggs's mess, where he boarded in Washington, 
the AA'ilmot proviso was the tt)pic of frequent conversation 
and the occasion of very many angry controversies. Dr. Bu- 
sey, who was a fellv)w boarder, says of Lincoln's part in these 
discussions, that though he may have been as radical as any 
in the household, he was so discreet in giving expression to 
his convictions on the slavery question as to avoid giving of- 
fence to anybody, and was so conciliatory as to create the im- 
pression, even among the pro-slavery advocates, that he did 
not wish to introduce or discuss subjects that would provoke 
a controversy. 

"When such conversation would threaten angry or even 
unpleasant contention he would interrupt it by interposing 
some anecdote, thus diverting it into a hearty and general 
laugh, and so completely disarrange the tenor of the discus- 
sion that the parties engaged would either separate in good 
humor or continue conversation free from discord. This 
amicable disposition made him very poDular with the house- 
hold." 

But when in 1848 Lincoln went to New England he expe- 
rienced for the first time the full meaning of the "free soil" 
sentiment as the new^ abolition sentiment was called. Massa- 
chusetts was quivering at that moment under the impas- 
sioned protests of the great abolitionists. Sumner was just 
deciding to abandon literature to devote his life to the cause 
of freedom and was speaking wdierever he had the chance 



224 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

and often in scenes which were riots. "Ah me such an as- 
sembly," wrote Longfellow in his Journal after one of these 
speeches of Sumner. "It was like one of Beethoven's sym- 
phonies played in a saw-mill." Whittier was laboring at 
Amesbury by letters of counsel and encouragement to 
friends, by his pure, high-souled poems of protest and prom- 
ise and by his editorials to the "National Era," which he and 
his friends had just started in Washington. Lowell was pub- 
lishing the last of the Biglow Papers and preparing the whole 
for the book form. He was writing, too, some of his noblest 
prose. Emerson, Palfrey, Hoar, Adams, Phillips, Garrison, 
were all at work. Giddings had been there from Ohio. 

Only a few days before Lincoln arrived a great convention 
of free soilers and bolting Whigs had been held in Tremont 
Temple and its earnestness and passion liad produced a deep 
impression. Sensitive as Lincoln was to every shade of popu- 
lar feeling and conviction the sentiment in New England 
stirred him as he had never been stirred before, on the ques- 
tion of slavery. Listening to Seward's speech in Tremont 
Temple, he seems to have had a sudden insight into the truth, 
a quick illumination; and that night, as the two men sat talk- 
ing, he said gravely to the great anti-slavery advocate : 

"Governor Seward, I have been thinking about what you 
said in your speech. I reckon you are right. We have got to 
deal with this slavery question, and got to give much more 
attention to it hereafter than we have been doing." 



CHAPTER XIV 

LINCOLN AT NIAGARA SECURES A PATENT FOR AN INVEN- 
TION ABANDONS POLITICS AND DECIDES TO DEVOTE HIM- 
SELF TO THE LAW 

It was late in September when Lincoln started westward 
from his campaigning in New England. He stopped in Al- 
bany, N. Y., and in company with Thurlow Weed called on 
Fillmore then candidate for Vice-President. From Albany 
he went to Niagara. Mr. Herndon once asked him what 
made the deepest impression on him when he stood before 
the Falls. 

"The thing that struck me most forcibly when I saw the 
Falls," he responded, "was, where in the world did all that 
water come from?" The memory of Niagara remained 
with him and aroused many speculations. Among various 
notes for lectures which Nicolay and Hay found among Mr. 
Lincoln's papers after his death and published in his " Com- 
plete Works," is a fragment on Niagara which shows how 
deeply his mind was stirred by the majesty of that mighty 
wonder. 

''Niagara Falls ! By what mysterious power is it that mil- 
lions and millions are drawn from all parts of the world to 
gaze upon Niagara Falls? There is no mystery about the 
thing itself. Every effect is just as any intelligent man, 
knowing the causes, would anticipate without seeing it. If 
the water moving onward in a great ri\'er reaches a i)oint 
where there is a perpendicular jog of a hundred feet in de- 
scent in the bottom of the river, it is plain the water will have 
a violent and continuous nlunge at that point. It is also plain, 



225 



2 26 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

the water, thus plunging, will foam and roar, and send up a 
mist continuously, in which last, during sunshine, there will 
be perpetual rainbows. The mere physical of Niagara Falls 
is only this. Yet this is really a very small part of that 
world's wonder. Its power to excite reflection and emotion 
is its great charm. The geologist will demonstrate that the 
plunge, or fall, was once at Lake Ontario, and has worn its 
way back to its present position ; he will ascertain how fast it 
is wearing now, and so get a basis for determining how long 
it has been wearing back from Lake Ontario, and finally 
demonstrate by it that this world is at least fourteen thou- 
sand years old. A philosopher of a slightly different turn will 
say, 'Niagara Falls is only the lip of the basin out of which 
pours all the surplus water which rains down on two or three 
hundred thousand square miles of the earth's surface.' He 
will estimate with approximate accuracy that five hundred 
thousand tons of water fall with their full weight a distance 
of a hundred feet eacli minute — thus exerting a force equal 
to the lifting of the same weight, through the same space, in 
the same time. . . . 

"But still there is more. It calls up the indefinite past. 
When Colum.bus first sousfb.t this continent — when Christ 
suffered on the cross — when Moses led Israel through the 
Red Sea — nay, even when Adam first came from the hand of 
his Maker; then, as now, Niagara was roaring here. The 
eyes of that species of extinct giants whose bones fill the 
mounds of America have gazed on Niagara, as ours do now. 
Contemporary with the first race of men, and older than the 
first man, Niagara is strong and fresh to-day as ten thousand 
years ago. The Mammoth and Mastodon, so long dead that 
fragments of their monstrous bones alone testify that they 
ever lived, have gazed on Niagara — in that long, long time 
never still for a single moment, never dried, never froze, 
never slept, never rested." 

In his trip westward to Springfield from Niagara there oc- 
airred an incident which started Lincoln's mind on a new 
line of thought one which all that fall divided it with poli- 
tics. It happened that the boat by which he made part of tiK- 




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VISITS NIAGARA FALLS ^^-^ 



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trip stranded in shallow water. The devices employed to float 
her, interested Lincoln much. He no doubt recalled tlie days 
when on the Ohio, the Mississippi, and the Sangamon he 
had seen his own or his neighbor's boats stuck on a sand-bar 
for hours, even days. Was there no way that these vexatious 
delays could be prevented in shallow streams? He set him- 
self resolutely at the task of inventing a practical device for 
getting boats over shoals. When he reached Springfield he 
began to build a model representing his idea. He showed the 
deepest interest in the work and Mr. Herndon says he would 
sometimes bring the model into his office and while whittling 
on it would talk of its merits and the revolution it was going 
to work on the western rivers. 

When Lincoln returned to Washington he took the model 
with him, and through Mr. Z. C. Robbins, a lawyer of Wash- 
ington, secured a patent. "He walked into my office 
one morning with a model of a western steamboat under his 
arm," says Mr. Robbins. "After a friendly greeting he 
placed his model on my office-table and proceeded to explain 
the principles embodied therein that he believed to be his own 
invention, and which, if new, he desired to secure by letters- 
patent. During my former residence in St. Louis, I had made 
myself thoroughly familiar with everything appertaining to 
the construction and equipment of the flat-bottomed steam- 
boats that were adapted to the shallow rivers of our western 
and southern States, and therefore, I was able speedily to 
come to the conclusion that Mr. Lincoln's proposed improve- 
ment of that class of vessels was new and patentable, and I 
so informed him. Thereupon he instructed me to prepare the 
necessary drawings and papers and prosecute an application 
for a patent for his invention at the United States patent 
office. I complied with his instructions and in due course of 
proceedings procured for him a patent that fully covered all 
the distinguishing features of his improved steamboat. The 



228 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

identical model that Mr. Lincoln brought to my office can 
now be seen in the United States patent office." 

But it was only his leisure which Lincoln spent in the fall 
of 1848 on his invention. All through October and the first 
days of November he was speaking up and down the State 
for Taylor. His zeal was rewarded in November by the elec- 
tion of the Whig ticket and a few weeks later he went back 
to Washington for the final session of the Thirtieth Con- 
gress. He went back resolved to do something regarding 
slavery. He seems to have seen but two things at that mo- 
ment which could constitutionally be done. The first was to 
allow the slave-holder no more ground than he had; to ac- 
complish this he continued to vote for the Wilmot proviso. 
The second was to abolish slavery in the District of Colum- 
bia. Over ten years before, in 1837, Lincoln had declared, 
in the assembly of Illinois, that the Congress of the United 
States had the power, under the constitution, to abolish 
slavery in the District of Columbia, but that the power ought 
not to be exercised unless at the request of the people of the 
District. When he went to Washington in 1847 he found a 
condition of things which made him feel that Congress ought 
to exercise the power it had. There had existed for years in 
the city a slave market : "a. sort of negro livery stable, where 
droves of negroes were collected, temporarily kept, and 
finally taken to southern markets, precisely like droves of 
horses," Lincoln said in describing it in later years ; and this 
frightful place was in view from the windows of the Capitol. 
Morally and intellectually shocked and irritated by this spec- 
tacle. Lincoln brooded over it until now, in the second ses- 
sion of his term, he decided to ask that Congress exercise the 
power he had affirmed ten years before belonged to it, and 
on January 16, 1849, ^^ drew up and presented a bill to abol- 
ish slavery in the District of Columbia, "with the consent of 
the voters of the District and with compensation to owners " 



VISITS NIAGARA FALLS 229 

The bill caused a noise in the House, but came to naught, 
as indeed at that date any similar bill was bound to do. It 
showed, however, more plainly than anything Lincoln had 
done so far in Congress his fearlessness when his convictions 
were aroused. 

The inauguration of Taylor on March 4, 1849, ended Lin- 
coln's congressional career. The principle, "turn about is 
fair play," which he had insisted on in 1846 when working 
for the nomination for himself, he regarded as quite as ap- 
plicable now. It was not because he did not desire to return 
to Congress. 

" I made the declaration that I would not be a candidate 
again/' he wrote Herndon in January, 1848, "more from a 
wish to deal fairly with others, to keep peace among our 
friends, and to keep the district from going to the enemy, 
than from any cause personal to myself; so that, if it should 
so happen that nobody else Avishes to be elected. I could not 
refuse the people the right of sending me again. But to 
enter myself as a competitor of others, or to authorize any 
one so to enter me, is what mv word and honor forbid." 

And yet he was not willing to leave public life. The term 
in Congress had only increased his fondness for politics. It 
had given him a touch of that fever for public office from 
which so few men who have served in Congress ever entirely 
recover. The Whigs owed much to him, and there was a 
general disposition to gratify any reasonable ambition he 
might have. "I believe that, so far as the Whigs in Congress 
are concerned, I could have the General Land Office almost 
by common consent," he wrote Speed; "but then Sweet and 
Don Morrison and Browning and Cyrus Edwards all want it, 
and what is worse, while I think I could easily take it myself, 
I fear I shall have trouble to get it for any other man in Illi- 
nois. 

Although he feared his efforts would be useless, he pledged 
his support to his friend, Cyrus Edwards. While Lincoln 



230 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

was looking after Edwards's interests, a candidate appeared 
who was most objectionable to the Whigs, General Justin 
Butterfield. Lincoln did all he could to defeat Butterfield 
save the one thing necessary — ask the position for himself. 
This he would not do until he learned that Edwards had no 
chance. Then he applied; but it was too late. Butterfield 
had secured the office while Lincoln had been holding back. 
When Edwards found that Lincoln had finally applied for 
the place, he accused him of treachery. Lincoln was deeply 
hurt by the suspicion. 

" The better part of one's life consists of his friend- 
ships," he wrote to Judge Gillespie, " and, of them. 
mine with Mr. Edwards was one of the most cherished. 
I have not been false to it. At a word 1 could have had 
the office any time before the Department was committed 
to Mr. Butterfield — at least Mr. Ewing and the President 
say as much. That word I forbore to speak, partly for other 
reasons, but chiefly for Mr. Edwards's sake — losing the 
office that he might gain it. I was always for (him) ; but to 
lose his friendship, by the effort for him, would oppress me 
very much, were I not sustained by the utmost consciousness 
of rectitude. I first determined to be an applicant, uncondi- 
tionally, on the 2d of June ; and I did so then upon being in- 
formed by a telegraphic despatch that the question was nar- 
rowed down to Mr. B. and myself, and that the Cabinet had 
postponed the appointment three weeks for my benefit. Not 
doubting that Mr. Edwards was wholly out of the question, 
I, nevertheless, would not then have become an applicant had 
I supposed he would thereby be brought to suspect me of 
treachery to him. Two or three days afterwards a conversa- 
tion with Levi Davis convinced me Mr. Edwards was dis- 
satisfied ; but I was then too far in to get out. His own let- 
ter, written c^n the 25th of April, after I had fully informed 
him of all that had passed, up to within a few days of that 
time, gave assurance I had that entire confidence from him 
which I felt my uniform and strong friendship for him en- 
titled me to. Among other things it says : 'Whatever course 



VISITS NIAGARA FALLS 231 

your jndg-ment may dictate as proper to be pursued shall 
never be excepted to by nie." 1 also had had a letter from 
Washington saynig Chambers, of the " Republic/' had 
brought a rumor there, that Mr. E. had declined 
in my favor^ which rumor 1 judged came from Mr. 
E. himself, as I had not then breathed of his letter to 
any living creature. In saying I had never, before the 2d 
of June, determined to be an applicant, unconditionally, I 
mean to admit that, before then, I had said, substantially. J 
would take the office rather than it should be lost to the State, 
or given to one in the State whom the Whigs did not want ; 
but I aver that in every instance in which 1 spoke of myself 
I intended to keep, and now believe I did keep, Mr. E. above 
myself. Mr. Edwards's first suspicion was that I had al- 
lowed Baker to overreach me, as his friend, in behalf of Don 
Morrison. I know this was a mistake ; and the result has 
proved it. I understand his view now is, that if I had gone 
to open war with Baker I could have ridden him down, and 
had the thing all my own way. I believe no such thing. With 
Baker and some strong man from the Military tract and else- 
where for Morrison, and we and some strong men from the 
Wabash and elsewhere for Mr. E., it was not possible for 
either to succeed. I believed this in March, and I know it 
now. The only thing which gave either any chance was the 
very thing Baker and I proposed — an adjustment with them- 
selves. 

"You may wish to know how Butterfield finally beat me. 
I cannot tell you particulars now, but will when I see you. In 
the meantime let it be understood I am not greatly dissatis- 
fied — I wish the office had been so bestowed as to encourage 
our friends in future contests, and I regret exceedingly Mr. 
Edwards's feelings towards me. These two things away, I 
should have no regrets — at least I think I would not." 

It was not until eleven years later that Edwards forgave 
Lincoln. Then at Judge Gillespie's request he promised to 
" bury the hatchet with Lincoln " and to enter the campaign 
for him. 

Lincoln declared that he had no regrets about the way the 
General Land Office went, but, if he had not, his Whig 



2 32 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

friends in Washington had. They determined to do some- 
thing for him, and in the summer of 1849 summoned him to 
the capital to urge him to accept the governorship of Oregon. 
The Territory would soon be a State, it was believed, and 
Lincoln would then undoubtedly be chosen to represent it in 
the United States Senate. Unquestionably, a splendid politi- 
cal prospect was thus opened. Many of Lincoln's friends ad- 
vised him to accept; his wife, however, disliked the idea of 
life in the far West, and on her account he refused the place. 

The events of the summer of 1849 seemed to Lincoln to 
end his political career. He had no time to brood over his 
situation, however. The necessity of earning a livelihood 
was too imperative. His financial obligations were, in fact, 
considerable. The old debt for the New Salem store still 
hung over him ; he had a growing family ; and his father and 
mother, who w'ere still living in Coles county, whither they 
had moved in 1831, were dependent upon him for many of 
the necessaries, as well as all the comforts, of their lives. At 
intervals ever since he had left home he had helped them ; 
now by saving their land from the foreclosing of a mortgage, 
now by paying their doctor's bills, now by adding to the 
cheerfulness of their home. 

He was equally kind to his other relatives, visiting them 
and aiding them in various ways. Among these relatives 
were two cousins, Abraham and Mordecai, the sons of his 
uncle Mordecai Lincoln, who lived in Hancock County, in his 
congressional district. At Ouincy, also in his district, lived 
with his family a brother of his mother — Joseph Hanks. Lin- 
coln never went to Quincy without going to see his uncle Jo- 
seph and "uncle Joe's Jake," as he called one of his. cousins. 
"On these occasions." writes one of the latter's family, Mr. 
J. M. Hanks of Florence, Colorado, "mirth and jollity 
abounded, for Mr. Lincoln indulged his bent of story-tell- 
ing to the utmost, until a late hour." His half-brother, John 



VISITS NIAGARA FALLS 233 

Johnston, he aided for many years. His help did not always 
take the form of money. Johnston was shiftless and always 
in debt, and consequently restless and discontented. In 185 1 
he was determined to borrow money or sell his farm, and 
move to Missouri. He proposed to Mr. Lincoln that he lend 
him eighty dollars. Mr. Lincoln answered : 

'* What I propose is, that you shall go to work, * tooth and 
nail,' for somebody who will give you money for it. . . . 
I now promise you, that for every dollar you will, between 
this and the first of May, get for your own labor, either in 
money or as your own indebtedness, I will then give you one 
other dollar. ... In this I do not mean you shall go 
off to St. Louis, or the lead mines, or the gold mines in Cali- 
fornia, but I mean for you to go at it for the best wages you 
can get close to home in Coles county. Now, if you will do 
this, you will be soon out of debt, and, what is better, you 
will have a habit that will keep you from getting in debt 
again. But, if I should now clear you out of debt, next year 
you would be just as deep in as ever. You say you would 
almost give your place in Heaven for seventy or eighty dol- 
lars. Then you value your place in Heaven very cheap, for I 
am sure you can, with the offer I make, get the seventy or 
eighty dollars for four or five months' work." 

A few months later Lincoln wrote Johnston in regard to 
his contemplated move to Missouri : 

"What can you do in- Missouri better than here? Is the 
land any richer? Can you there, any more than here, raise 
corn and wheat and oats without work ? Will anybody there, 
any more than here, do your work for you? If you intend to 
go to work, there is no better place than right where you are ; 
if you do not intend to go to work, you cannot get 
along anyv/here. Squirming and crawling about trom 
place to place can do no good. You have raisecl no 
crop this year; and what you really want is to sell the land, 
get the money, and spend' it. Part with the land y(Xi have, 
and, my life upon it. you will never after own a spot big 



2 34 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



enough to bury you in. Half you will get for the land you 
will spend in moving to Missouri, and the other half you will 
eat, drink, and wear out, and no foot of land will be bought. 
Now, I feel it my duty to have no hand in such a piece of 
foolery." 

All this plain advice did not prevent Johnston trying to 
sell a small piece of land on which Mr. Lincoln had paid the 
mortgage in order to secure it to his step-mother during her 
life. When Mr. Lincoln received this proposition he replied: 

"Your proposal about selling the east forty acres of land is 
2.\\ that I want or could claim for myself; but I am not satis- 
fied with It on mot hers account. I want her to have her liv- 
ing, and I feel that it is my duty, to some extent, to see that 
she is not wronged. She had a right of dower (that is, the 
use of one-third for life) in the other two forties; but, it 
seems, she has already let you take that, hook and line. She 
now has the use of the whole of the east forty as long as she 
lives, and if it be sold, of course she is entitled to the interest 
on all the money it brings as long as she lives ; but you pro- 
pose to sell it for three hundred dollars, take one hundred 
away with you, and leave her two hundred at eight per cent., 
making her the enormous sum of sixteen dollars a year. 
Now, if you are satisfied with treating her in that way, I am 
not. It is true that you are to have that forty for two hundred 
dollars at mother's death ; but you are not to have it before. I 
am confident that land can be made to produce for mother at 
least thirty dollars a year, and I cannot, to oblige any living 
person, consent that she shall be put on an allowance of six- 
teen dollars a year." 

It was these obligations which made Lincoln resume at 
once the practice of the law. He decided to remain in 
Springfield, although he had an opportunity to go in with a 
well-established Chicago lawyer. For many reasons life in 
Springfield was satisfactory to him. He had bought a home 
there in 1844, and was deeply attached to it. There, too, he 
was surrounded by scores of friends who had known him 



VISITS NIAGARA FALLS 235 

since his first appearance in the town, and to many of whom 
he was related by marriage; and he had the good will of the 
community. In short, he was a part of Springfield. The very 
children knew him, for there was not one of them for whom 
he had not done some kind deed. "My first strong impres- 
sion of Mr. Lincoln,'' says a lady of Springfield, "was made 
by one of his kind deeds. I was going with a little friend for 
my first trip alone on the railroad cars. It was an epoch of 
my life. I had planned for it and dreamed of it for weeks. 
The day I was to go came, but as the hour of the train ap- 
proached, the hackman, through some neglect, failed to call 
for my trunk. As the minutes went on, I realized, in a panic 
of grief, that I should miss the train. I was standing by the 
gate, my hat and gloves on, sobbing as if my heart would 
break, wdien Mr. Lincoln came by. 

" 'Why, what's the matter?' he asked, and I poured out all 
my story. 

" 'How big's the trunk? There's still time, if it isn't too 
big.' And he pushed through the gate and up to the door. My 
mother and I took him up to my room, where my little old- 
fashioned trunk stood, locked and tied. 'Oh, ho,' he cried; 
'wipe your eyes and come on quick.' And before I knew what 
he was going to do, he had shouldered the trunk, was down 
stairs, and striding out of the yard. Down the street he went, 
fast as his long legs could carry him. I trotting behind, dry- 
ing my tears as I w^ent. We reached the station in time. Mr. 
Lincoln put me on the train, kissed me good-bye, and told 
me to have a good time. It was just like him." 

This sensitiveness to a child's wants made Mr. Lincoln a 
most indulgent father. He continually carried his boys about 
with him, and their pranks, even when they approached re- 
bellion, seemed to be an endless delight to him. Like most 
boys, they loved to run away, and neighbors of the Lincolns 
tell many tales of Mr. Lincoln's captures of the culprits. One 



2i6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

of the prettiest of all these is a story told of an escape WilliC 
once made, when three or four years old, from the hands of 
his mother, who was giving him a tubbing. He scampered 
out of the door without the vestige of a garment on him, flew 
up the street, ■clipped under a fence into a great green field, 
and took across it. Mr. Lincoln was sitting on the porch, 
and discovered the pink and white runaway as he was cut- 
ting across the greensward. He stood up, laughing aloud, 
while the mother entreated him to go in pursuit; then he 
started in chase. Half-way across the field he caught the 
child, and gathering him up in his long arms, he covered his 
rosy form with kisses. Then mounting him on his back, the 
chubby legs around liis neck, he rode him back to his mother 
and his tub. 

It was a frequent custom with Lincoln, this of carrying his 
children on his shoulders. He rarely went down street that 
he did not have one of his younger boys mounted on his 
shoulder, while another hung to the tail of his long coat. 
The antics of the boys with their father, and the species of 
tyranny they exercised over him, are still subjects of talk in 
Springfield. Mr. R.oland Diller, who was a neighbor of Mr. 
Lincoln, tells one of tlie best of the stories. He was called 
to the door one day 1)y hearing a great noise of children cry- 
ing, and there was Mr. Lincoln striding by with the boys, 
both of whom were wailing aloud. "Why, Mr. Lincoln, 
what's the matter with the bovs?" he asked. 

"Just what's the matter with the whole world," Lincoln 
replied ; "I've got three walnuts and each wants two." 

Another of Lincoln's Springfield acquaintances, the Rev. 
Mr. Alcott of Elgin, 111., tells of seeing him coming away 
from church, imusnallv early one Sunday morning. "The 
sermon could not have been more than half way through," 
says Mr, Alcott. " 'Tad' was slung across his left arm like a 
pair of saddle-bags, and Mr Lincoln was striding along with 



VISITS NIAGARA FALLS 237 

long, and deliberate steps toward his home. On one of the 
street corners he encountered a group of his fellow-towns- 
men. Mr. Lincoln anticipated the question which was about 
to be put by the group, and, taking his figure of speech from 
practices with which they were only too familiar, said: 
' Gentlemen, 1 entered this colt, but he kicked around so I 
had to withdraw him.' " 

There was no institution in Springfield in which Lincoln 
had not taken an active interest in the first years of his resi- 
dence; and now that he had decided to remain in the town, he 
resimied all his old relations, from the daily visits to the 
drug-stores on the public square, which were the recognized 
rendezvous of Springfield politicians and lawyers, to his 
weekly attendance at the First Presbyterian church. That 
he was as regular in his attendance on the latter as on the 
former, all his old neighbors testify. In fact, Lincoln, all his 
life, went regularly to church. The serious attention which 
he gave the sermons he heard is shown in a well-authenti- 
cated story of a visit he made in 1837, with a company of 
friends, to a camp-meeting held six miles west of Springfield 
at the "Salem Church." The sermon on this occasion was 
preached by one of the most vigorous and original individ- 
uals in the pulpit of that day — the Rev. Dr. Peter Akers. In 
this discourse was a remarkable and prophetic passage, long 
remembered by those who heard it. The speaker prophesied 
the downfall of castes, the end of tyrannies, and the crushing 
out of slavery. As Lincoln and his friends returned home 
there was a long discussion of the sermon. 

"It was the most instructive sermon, and he is the most 
impressive preacher, I have ever heard," Lincoln said. "It is 
wonderful that God has given such power to men. I firmly 
believe his interpretation of prophecy, so far as I understand 
it, and especially about the breaking down of civil and re- 
ligious tyrannies; and, odd as it may seem, when he des- 



2 1-8 1>IFE OF LINCOLN 

cribed those changes and revolutions, I was deeply impressed 
that I should be somehow strangely mixed up with them." 

If Lincoln was not at this period a man of strictly ortho- 
dox beliefs, he certainly was, if we accept his own words, 
profoundly religious. In the letters which passed between 
Lincoln and Speed in 1841 and 1842, when the two men 
were doubting their own hearts and wrestling with their dis- 
illusions and forebodings, Lincoln frequently expressed the 
idea to Speed that the Almighty had sent their suffering for a 
special purpose. When Speed finally acknowledged himself 
happily married, Lincoln wrote to him : "I always was super- 
stitious; I believe God made me one of the instruments of 
bringing your Fanny and you together, which union I have 
no doubt he had foreordained." Then, referring to his own 
troubled heart, he added : "Whatever He designs He will do 
for me yet. 'Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord,' 
is my text just now." 

Only a few months after Lincoln decided to settle perma- 
nently in Springfield his father, Thomas Lincoln, fell danger- 
ously ill. Lincoln in writing to John Johnston, his half- 
brother, said : "I sincerely hope father may recover his 
health, but, at all events, tell him to remember to call upon 
and confide in our great and good and merciful Maker, who 
will not turn away from him in any extremity. He notes 
the fall of a sparrow, and numbers the hairs of our heads, 
and He will not forget the dying man who puts his trust in 
Him." 

Lincoln's return to the law was characterized by a marked 
change in his habits. He gave much more attention to study 
than he ever had before. His colleagues in Springfield and 
on the circuit noticed this change. After court closed in the 
town on the circuit, and the lawyers were gathered in the bar- 
room or on the veranda of the lax'ern. telling stories and 
chaffing one a-nother, Lincoln would join them, though often 



VISITS NIAGARA FALLS 239 

but for a few minutes. He would tell a story as he passed, 
and while they were laughing" at its climax, would slip away 
to his room to study. Frequently this work was carried on 
far into the night. "I'lacing a candle on a chair at the head 
of the bed," says Mr. llerndon, "he would study for hours. 
I have known him to study in this position until two o'clock 
in the morning. Meanwhile, I and others who chanced to 
occupy the same room would be safely and soundly asleep." 
Although he worked so late, "he was in the habit of rising 
earlier than his brothers of the bar," says Judge Weldon. 
"On such occasions he was wont to sit by the fire, having un- 
covered the coals, and muse, ponder, and soliloquize." 

But it was not only the law that occupied him. He began 
a serious course of general education, studying mathematics, 
astronomy, poetry, as regularly as a school-boy who had les- 
sons to recite. In the winter of 1849-50 he even joined a 
club of a dozen gentlemen of Springfield who had begun the 
study of German, the meetings of the class being held in his 
office. 

Much of Lincoln's devotion to study at this period was due 
to his desire to bring himself in general culture up to the 
men whom he had been meeting in the East. No man ever 
realized his own deficiencies in knowledge and experience 
more deeply than Abraham Lincoln, nor made a braver 
struggle to correct them. He often acknowledged to his 
friends the consciousness he had of his own limitations 
m the simplest matters of life. Mr. H. C. Whitney, 
one of his old friends, gives a pathetic example of this. 
Once on the circuit his friends missed him after supper. 
When he returned, some one asked where he had been. 

" Well, I have been to a little show up at the Academy," he 
said. 

"He sat before the nre," says Mr. Whitney, "and narrated 
all the sights of that most primitive of county shows, given 



240 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

chiefly to school children. Next night he was xnissing- agai.n; 
the show was still in town, and he stole in as before, and en- 
tertained us with a description of new sights — a magic lan- 
tern, electrical machine, etc. I told him 1 had seen all these 
sights at school. ' Yes,' said he sadly. ' 1 now^ have an ad- 
vantage over you, for the first time in my life seeing these 
things which are, of course, common to those who had, what 
I did not, a chance at an education when they were young.' " 

It was to make up for the "chance at an education" wdiich 
he did not have in youth that Abraham Lincoln at forty years 
of age, after having earned the reputation of being one of 
the ablest politicians in Illinois, spent his leisure in study. 



CHAPTER XV 

LINCOLN ON THE CIRCUIT HIS HUMOR AND PERSUASIVE- 
NESS HIS MANNER OF PREPARING CASES, EXAMINING 

WITNESSES, AND ADDRESSING JURIES 

When in 1849 Lincoln decided to abandon politics finally 
and to devote himself to the law, he had been practising for 
thirteen years. In spite of the many interruptions elec- 
tioneering and office-holding had caused he was well-estab- 
iished. Rejoining his partner Herndon — the firm of Lin- 
coln and Herndon had been onl}^ a name during Lincoln's 
term in Washington — he took up the law with a singleness 
of purpose which had never before characterized his practice. 

Lincoln's headquarters were in Springfield, but his prac- 
tice was itinerant. The arrangements for the administration 
of justice in Illinois in the early days were suited to the con- 
ditions of the country, the State being divided into judicial 
circuits including more or less territory according to the 
population. To each circuit a judge was appointed, who 
each spring and fall travelled from county-seat to county- 
seat to hold court. With the judge travelled a certain num- 
ber of the best-known lawyers of the district. Each lawyer 
had, of course, a permanent office in one of the county-seatSj 
and often at several of the others he had partners, usually 
young men of little experience, for whom he acted as coun- 
sel in special cases. This peripatetic court prevailed in Illinois 
until the beginning of the fifties; but for many years after, 
when the towns had grown so large that a clever lawyer 
tnight have enough to do in his own county, a few lawyers, 

241 



242 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Lincoln among them, who from long association felt that 
the circuit was their natural habitat refused to leave it. 

The circuit which Lincoln travelled was known as the 
"Eighth Judicial Circuit." It included fifteen counties in 
1845, though the territory has since been divided into more. 
It was about one hundred and fifty miles long by as many 
broad. There were no railroads in the Eighth Circuit until 
about 1854, and the court travelled on horseback or in car- 
riages, Lincoln had no horse in the early days of his prac- 
tice. It was his habit then to borrow one, or to join a com- 
pany of a half dozen or more in hiring a "three-seated spring 
wagon." Later he owned a turn-out of his own, which 
figures in nearly all the traditions of the Eighth Circuit ; the 
horse being described as "poky" and the buggy as "rattling." 

There was much that was irritating and uncomfortable in 
the circuit-riding of the Illinois court, but there was more 
which was amusing to a temperament like Lincoln's. The 
freedom, the long days in the open air, the unexpected if 
trivial adventures, the meeting with wayfarers and settlers 
— all was an entertainment to him. He found humor and 
human interest on the route where his companions saw noth- 
ing but commonplaces. "He saw the ludicrous in an assem- 
blage of fowls," says H. C. Whitney, one of his fellow- 
itinerants, "in a man spading his garden, in a clothes-line full 
of clothes, in a group of boys, in a lot of pigs rooting at a 
mill door, in a mother duck teaching her brood to swim — in 
everything and anything." The sympathetic observations 
of these long rides furnished humorous settings for some of 
his best stories. If frequently on these trips he fell into 
sombre reveries and rode with head bent, ignoring his com- 
panions, generally he took part in all the frolicking which 
went on, joining in practical jokes, singing noisily with the 
rest, sometimes even playing a Jew's-harp. 

When the county-seat was reached, the bench and bn^ 



TRAVELLING ON THE CIRCUIT 



243 



quickly settled themselves in the town tavern. It was usually 
a large two-story house with big rooms and long verandas. 
There was little exclusiveness possible in these hostelries. 




FACSIMILE OF MAP OF CIRCUIT WHICH LINCOLN TRAVELT.KU IN PRACTISING LAW 

Ordinarily judge and lawyer slept two in a bed, and threi 
or four beds in a room. They ate at the common table witt 
jurors, witnesses, prisoners out on bail, travelling peddlers. 



244 ^^^^ ^^ LINCOLN 

teamsters, and laborers. The only attempt at classification 
on the landlord's part was seating the lawyers in a group at 
the head of the table. Most of them accepted this distinction 
complacently, Lincoln, however, seemed to be indifferent to 
it. One day, when he had come in and seated himself at the 
foot with the "fourth estate," the landlord called to him, 
"You're in the wrong place, Mr. Lincoln; come up here." 

"Have you anything better to eat up there, Joe?" he in- 
quired quizzically; "if not, I'll stay here." 

The accommo(lati(Mis of the taverns were often unsatis- 
factory — the food poorly cooked, the beds hard. Lincoln ac- 
cepted everything with uncomplaining good nature, though 
his companions habitually growled at the hardships of the 
life. It was not only repugnance to criticism which might 
hurt others, it was the indifference of one whose thoughts 
were always busy with problems apart from physical com- 
fort, who had little notion of the so-called " refinements of 
life," and almost no sense of luxury and ease. 

The judge naturally was the leading character in these 
nomadic groups. He received all the special consideration 
the democratic spirit of the inhabitants bestowed on any one, 
and controlled his privacy and his time to a degree. Judge 
David Davis, who from 1848 presided over the Eighth Cir- 
cuit as long as Mr. Lincoln travelled it, was a man of unusual 
force of character, of large learning, quick impulses, and 
strong prejudices. Lincoln was from the beginning of their 
association a favorite with Judge Davis. Unless he joined 
the circle which the judge formed in his room after supper, 
his honor was impatient and distraught, interrupting the con- 
versation constantly l)y demanding: "Wliere's Lincoln?" 
"Why don't Lincoln come?" And wlien Lincoln did come, 
the judge would draw out story after story, quieting every- 
body who interrupted with an impatient. "Mr. Lincoln's talk- 
ing." If anyone came to the door to see the host in the midst 



TRAVELLING ON THE CIRCUIT 245 

of one of Lincoln's stories he would send a lawyer nito the 
hall to see what was wanted, and, as soon as the door closed, 
order Lincoln to "go ahead." 

The appearance of the court in a town was invariably a 
stimulus to its social life. In all of the county-seats there 
were a few^ fine homes of which the dignity, spaciousness, 
and elegance still impress the traveller through Illinois. The 
hospitality of these houses was generous. Dinners, recep- 
tions, and suppers followed one another as soon as the court 
began. Lincoln was a favorite ligure at all these gatherings. 
Llis favorite held, however, was the court. The court- 
houses of Illinois in which he practised were not log houses, 
as has been frequently taken for granted. "It is not proba- 
ble," says a leading member of the Illinois bar, "Mr. Lincoln 
ever saw a log court-house in central Illinois, where he prac- 
tised law, unless he saw one at Decatur, in Macon County. 
In a conversation betw^een three members of the Supreme 
Court of Illinois, all of whom had been born in this State and 
had lived in it all their lives, and who were certainly familiar 
with the central portions of the State, all declared they had 
never seen a log court-house in the State." 

The court-houses in which Lincoln practised were stiff, 
old-fashioned wood or brick structures, usually capped by 
cupola or tower, and fronted by verandas with huge 
Doric or Ionic pillars. They were finished inside in the most 
uncompromising style — hard white walls, unpainted wood- 
work, pine floors, wooden benches. Usually they were heated 
by huge Franklin stoves, witli yards of stove-pipe running 
wildly through the air, searching for an exit, and threaten- 
ing momentarily to unjoint and tumble in sections. Few of 
the lawyers had offices in the town ; and a corner of tlie court- 
room, the shade of a tree in the court-yard, a sunny side of 
a building, were where they met their clients and transacted 
business. 



246 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

In the courts themselves there was a certain indifference 
to formaHty engendered by the primitive surroundings, 
which, however, the judges never allowed to interfere with 
the seriousness of the work. Lincoln habitually, when not 
busy, whispered stories to his neighbors, frequently to the 
annoyance of Judge Davis. If Lincoln persisted too long, 
the judge would rap on the chair and exclaim : "Come, come, 
Mr. Lincoln, I can't stand this ! There is no use trying to 
carry on two courts; I must adjourn mine or you yours, and 
I think you will have to be the one." As soon as the group 
had scattered, the judge would call one of the men to him 
and ask: "What was that Lincoln was telling?" 

"I was never fined but once for contempt of court," says 
one of the clerks of the court in Lincoln's day. "Davis fined 
me five dollars Mr. Lincoln had just come in, and leaning 
over my desk had told me a story so irresistibly funny that 
I broke out into a loud laugh. The judge called me to order 
in haste, saying, 'This must be stopped. Mr. Lincoln, you 
are constantly disturbing this court with your stories.' Then 
to me, 'You may fine yourself five dollars for your disturb- 
ance.' I apologized, l)ut told the judge that the story was 
worth the money. In a few minutes the judge called me to 
him. ' What was the story Lincoln told you ? ' he asked. I 
told him, and he laughed aloud in spite of himself. ' Remit 
your fine,' he ordered." 

The partiality of Judge Davis for Lincoln was shared by 
the members of the court generally. The unaffected friendli- 
ness and helpfulness of his nature had m( re to do with this 
than his wit and cleverness. If there was a new clerk in 
court, a stranger unused to the ways of tlie place, Lincoln 
was the first — sometimes the only one — to shake hands with 
him and congratulate him on his election. 

"No lawyer on the circuit was more unassuming than was 



TRAVELLING ON THE CIRCUIT 247 

Mr. Lincoln," says one who practised with him. "He arro- 
gated to himself no superiority over anyone — not even the 
most ohscure member of the bar. He treated everyone with 
that simphcity and kindness that friendly neighbors manifest 
in their relations with one another. He was remarkably gen- 
tle with young lawyers becoming permanent residents' at the 
several county-seats in the circuit where he had practised for 
so many years. . . . The result was, he became the 
nuich-beloved senior member of the bar. No young lawyer 
ever practised in the courts with Mr. Lincoln who did not in. 
all has after life have a regard for him akin to personal af- 
fection." 

"I remember with what confidence I always went to him," 
says Judge Lawrence Welden, who first knew Lincoln at the 
bar in 1854, "because I was certain he knew all about the 
matter and would most cheerfully help me. I can see him 
now, through the decaying memories of thirty years, stand- 
ing in the corner of the old court-room ; and as I approached 
him with a paper I did not understand, he said, 'Wait until 
I fix this plug of my "gallis" and I will pitch into that like a 
dog at a root.' While speaking he was busily engaged in 
trying to connect his suspenders with his pants by making a 
plug perform the function of a button." 

If for any reason Lincoln was absent from court, he was 
missed perhaps as no other man on the Eighth Circuit would 
have been, and his return greeted joyously. Lie was not 
less happy himself to rejoin his friends. "Ain't you glad I've 
come?" he would call out, as he came up to shake hands. 

The cases which fell to Lincoln on the Eighth Circuit were 
of the sort common to a new country. Litigation over bor- 
dering lines and deeds, over damages by wandering cattle, 
over broils at country festivities. Few of the cases were of 
large importance. When a client came to Lincoln his first 



248 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

effort was to arrange matters, if possible, and to avoid a suit 
In a few notes for a law lecture prepared about 1850, he 

says: 

''Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to com- 
promise whenever you can. Point out to them how the 
nominal winner is often a real loser — in fees, expenses, and 
waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior 
opportunity of being a good man. There will still be busi- 
ness enough. 

"Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be 
found than one who does this. Who can be more nearly a 
fiend than he who habitually overhauls the register of deeds 
in search of defects in titles, whereon to stir up strife, and 
put money in his pocket? A moral tone ought to be infused 
into the profession which should drive such men out of it." 

He carried out this in his practice. "Who was your 
guardian ?" he asked a young man who came to him to com- 
plain that a part of the property left him had been withheld. 
"Enoch Kingsbury," replied the young man. 

"I know Mr. Kingsbury," said Lincoln, "and he is not the 
man to have cheated you out of a cent, and I can't take the 
case, and advise you to drop the subject." And it was 
dropped. 

"We shall not take your case," he said to a man who had 
shown that by a legal technicality he could win property 
worth six hundred dollars. "You must remember that some 
things legally right are not morally right. We shall not take 
your case, but will give you a little advice for which we will 
charge you nothing. You seem to l)e a sprightly, energetic 
man ; we would advise you to try your liand at making six 
hundred dollars in some other way." 

Where he saw injustice lie was quick to offer his services 
to the wronged party. A pleasant example of this is related 
by Joseph Jefferson in his "Autobiography." In 1839, Jef- 
ferson, then a lad of ten years, travelled through Illinois 



TRAVELLING ON THE CIRCUIT 249 

with his father's theatrical company. After playing at Chi- 
cago, Quincy, Peoria and Pekin, the company went in the 
fal! to Springfield, where the sight of the legislature tempted 
the elder Jefferson and his partner to remain throughout the 
season. But there was no theatre. Not to be daunted they 
built one. But hardly had they completed it before a re- 
ligious revival broke out in the town, and the church people 
turned all their influence against the theatre. So effectually 
did they work that a law was passed by the municipality im- 
posing a license which was practically prohibitory. "In the 
midst of our trouble," says Jefferson, "a young lavv^yer called 
on the managers. He had heard of the injustice, and offered, 
if they would place the matter in his hands, to have the license 
taken off, declaring that he only desired to see fair play, and 
he would accept no fee whether he failed or succeeded. The 
young lawyer began his harangue. He handled the subject 
with tact, skill, and humor, tracing the history of the drama 
from the time when Thespis acted in a cart to the stage of 
to-day. He illustrated his speech with a number of anecdotes, 
and kept the council in a roar of laughter. His good humor 
prevailed, and the exorbitant tax w^as taken off." The 
"young lawyer" was Lincoln. 

Having accepted a case, Lincoln's first object seemed to be 
to reduce it to its simplest elements. "If I can clean this case 
of technicalities, and get it properly swung to the jury, I'll 
win it," he told his partner Herndon one day. He began by 
getting at what seemed to him the pivot on which it rested. 
Sure of that, he cared little for anythi.:g else. He trusted 
very little to books; a great deal to common sense and his 
ideas of right and wrong. 

"In the make of his character Mr. Lincoln had many ele- 
ments essential to the successful circuit lawyer," says one of 
his fellow-practitioners. "He knew much of the law as writ- 
ten in the books, and had that knowledge ready for use at all 



250 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

times. That was a valuable possession in the absence of law 
books, where none were obtainable on the circuit. But he 
had more than a knowledge of the law. He knew right and 
justice, and knew how to make their application to the af- 
fairs of every-day life. That was an element in his charac- 
ter that gave him power to prevail with the jury when argu- 
ing a case before them. Few lawyers ever had the influence 
with a jury that Mr. Lincoln had." 

When a case was clear to him and he was satisfied of its 
justice, he trusted to taking advantage of the developments 
of the trial to win. For this reason he made few notes be- 
forehand, rarely writing out his plan of argument. Those 
he left are amusingly brief ; for instance, the notes made for 

/fyfuu^ ryc-^ CA^^A^^ ^£~ a^^ ^^ 

FACSIMILE OF A LINCOLN MEMORANDUM. 

From llic Lincoln collt-ciioii in the law offices of Messrs. Vannxem & Potter, of Philadel- 
phia. This cliaractfiiBtic niumoraiidum was found l)y Messrs. lleriidou & Weik in looking 
over the papers in Lincoln's law otticc. ll was the label to a package of letters, pamphlets, 
and newspajjers which he had tied together and marked. 

a suit he had brought against a pension agent who had with- 
held as fee half of the pension he had obtained for the aged 
widow of a Revolutionary soldier. Lincoln was deeply in- 
dignant at the agent, and had resolved to win his suit. He 
read up the Revolutionary war afresh, and when he came 
to address the jury drew a harrowing picture of the private 
soldier's sufferings and of the trials of his separation from 
his wife. The notes for this argument ran as follows : 

"No contract — Not professional services. Unreasonable 
charge, — Money retained by Deft not given by Pl'ff. — 
Revolutionary War. — Soldier's bleeding feet. — Pl'ff's hus- 
band. — Soldier leaving home for army. — Skin deft.-— 
Close." 



TRAVELLING ON THE CIRCUIT 251 

Lincoln's reason for not taking notes, as he told it to H. 
W. Beckwith, when a student in the Danville office of Lin- 
coln and Lamon, was: " Notes are a bother, taking time to 
make, and more to hunt them up afterwards; lawyers who 
do so soon get the habit of referring to them so much that 
it confuses and tires the jury."" " He relied on his well- 
trained memory," says Mr. Beckwith, " that recorded and 
indexed every passing detail. Antl by his skilful questions, 
a joke, or pat retort as the trial progressed, he steered his 
jury from the bayous and eddies of side issues and kept 
them clear of the snags and sandbars, if any were put in the 
real channel of his case." 

Much of his strength lay in his skill in examining wit- 
nesses. "He had a most remarkable talent for examining 
witnesses," says an intimate associate; "with him it was a 
rare gift. It was a power to compel a witness to disclose the 
whole truth. Even a witness at first unfriendly, under his 
kindly treatment would finally become friendlv and v^ould 
wish to tell nothing he could honestly avoid against him, if 
he could state nothing for him." 

He could not endure an unfair use of testimony or the 
misrepresentation of his own position. "In the Harrison 
murder case,"" says Mr. T. \V. S. Kidd of Springfield, a crier 
of the court in Lincoln"s day, "the prosecuting attorney 
stated that such a witness made a certain statement, when 
Mr. Lincoln rose and made such a plaintive appeal to the at- 
torney to correct the statement, that the attorney actually 
made the amende Jwnorable, and afterwards remarked to a 
brother lawyer that he could deny his own child's appeal as 
quickly as he could Mr. Lincoln's." 

Sometimes under provocation he became violently angry. 
In the murder case referred to above, the judg'e ruled con- 
trary to his expectations, and, as Mr. Lincoln said, contrary 
to the decision of the Supreme Court in a similar case. "Both 



252 ^IFE OF LINCOLN 

Mr. Lincoln and Judge Logan, who was with him in the 
case," says Mr. Kidd, "rose to their feet quick as thought. I 
do think he was the most unearthly looking man I had ever 
seen. He roared like a lion suddenly aroused from his lair, 
and said and did more in ten minutes than I ever heard him 
say or saw him do before in an hour." 

He dei)ended a great deal upon his stories in pleading, 
using them as illustrations which demonstrated the case more 
conclusively than argument could have done. Judge H. W. 
Beckwith of Danville, Illinois, in his "Personal Recollections 
of Lincoln," tells a story which is a good example of Lin- 
coln's way or condensing the law and the facts of an issue in 
a story. 

"A man, by vile words, first provoked and then made a 
bodily attack upon another. The latter in defending him- 
self gave the other much the worst of the encounter. The 
aggressor, to get even, had the one who thrashed him tried 
in oiir circuit court upon a charge of an assault and battery. 
Mr. Lincoln defended, and told the jury that his client was 
in the fix of a man who, in going along the highway with a 
pitchfork on his shoulder, was attacked by a fierce dog that 
ran out at him from a farmer's door-yard. In parrying off 
the brute with the fork its prongs stuck into the brute and 
killed him. 

" 'What made you kill my dog?' said the farmer. 

" 'What made him try to bite me?' 

" 'But why did you not go at him with the other end of 
the pitchfork?' 

" 'Why did he not come after me with his other end?' At 
this Mr. Lincoln whirled about in his long arms an imagin- 
ary dog and pushed its tail end toward the jury. This was 
the defensive plea of 'son assaulf demesne' — loosely. tl:at 'the 
other fellow brought on the fight.' — (|uickly told, and in a 
way the dullest mind would grasp and retain." 



TRAVELLING ON THE CIRCUIT 253 

Mr. T. W. S. Kidd says tliat he once heard a lawyer op- 
posed to Lincohi trying to convince a jury that precedent was 
superior to law, and that custom made things legal in all 
cases. When Lincoln arose to answer him he told the jury 
he would argue his case in the same way. Said he: "Old 
"Squire Bagly, from Alcnard, came into my office and said. 
'Lincoln, I want your advice as a lawyer. Has a man what's 
been elected justice of the peace a right to issue a marriage 
license?' I told him he had not; when the old "squire threw 
himself back in his chair very indignantly, and said: 'Lin- 
coln, I thought you \\as a lawyer. Now Bob Thomas and 
me had a bet on this thing, and we agreed to let you decide; 
but if this is your opinion I don't want it, for I know a 
Ihunderin' sight better, for I have been 's(|uire now eight 
years and have done it all the time.' " 

His manner of telling stories was most effective. ''When 
he chose to do so," writes Judge Scott, " he could place the 
opposite party, and his counsel too, for that matter, in a most 
ridiculous attitude by relating in his inimitable way a perti- 
nent story. That often gave him a great advantage with the 
jury. A young lawyer had brought an action in trespass to 
recover damages done to his client's growing crops by de- 
fendant's hogs. The right of action under the law of Illinois, 
as it was then, depended on the fact whether plaintiff's fence 
was sufficient to turn ordinary stock. There was some little 
conflict in the evidence on that question; 1)ut the weight of 
the testimony was decidedly in favor of plaintiff, and sus- 
tained beyond all doubt his cause of action. Mr. Lincoln ap- 
peared for defendant. There was no controversy as to the 
damage done by defendant's stock. The only thing in the 
case that could possibly admit of any discussion was the con- 
dition of plaintiff's fence; and as the testimony on that ques- 
tion seemed to be in favor of plaintiff, and as the sum in- 
volved was little in amount, Mr. Lincoln did not deem it nee- 



254 l-IFE OF LINCOLN 

essary to argue the case seriously, but by way of saying 
sometliing in behalf of his client he told a little story about a 
fence that was so crooked that when a hog went through an 
opening in it, invariably it came out on the same side from 
whence it started. His description of the confused look of 
the hog after several times going through the fence and still 
finding itself on the side from which it had started, was a 
humorous specimen of the best story-telling. The effect was 
to make plaintiff's case appear ridiculous; and while Mr. 
Lincoln did not attempt to apply the story to the case, the 
jury seemed to think it had some kind of application to the 
fence in controversy — otherwise he would not have told it — 
and shortly returned a verdict for the defendant." 

Those unfamiliar with his methods frequently took his 
stories as an effort to wring a laugh from the jury. A law- 
yer, a stranger to Mr. Lincoln, once expressed to General 
Linder the opinion that this practice of Lincoln was a waste 
of time. "Don't lay that flattering unction to your soul," 
Linder answered; "Lincoln is like Tansey's horse, he 'breaks 
to win.' " 

But it was not his stories, it was his clearness which was 
his strongest point. He meant that the jury should see that 
he was right. For this reason he never used a word which 
the dullest juryman could not understand. Rarely, if ever, 
did a Latin term creep into his arguments. A lawyer quot- 
ing a legal maxim one day in court, turned to Lincoln, and 
said: "That is so, is it not, Mr. Lincoln?" 

"If that's Latin," Lincoln replied, "you had better call an- 
other witness." 

His illustrations were almost always of the homeliest kind. 
He did not care to "go among the ancients for figures," he 
said. 

" Much of the force of his argument," writes Judge Scott, 
" lay in his logical statement of the facts of a case. When 



TRAVELLING ON THE CIRCUIT 255 

lie had in that way secured a clear understanding of the facts, 
the jury and the court would seem naturally to follow him in 
his conclusions as to the law of the case. His simple and 
natural presentation of the facts seemed to give the impres- 
sion that the jury were themselves making the statement. 
He had the happy and unusual faculty of making the jury 
believe tlicy — and not lie — were trying the case. Mr. Lin- 
coln kept himself in the background, and api)arently assumed 
nothing more than to be an assislaiit counsel to the court or 
the jury, on whom the primary responsibility for the final 
decision of the case in fact rested." 

He rarely consulted books during a trial, lest he lose the at- 
tention of the jury, and if obliged to, translated their state- 
ments into the simplest terms. In his desire to keep his case 
clear he rarely argued points which seemed to him unessen- 
tial. "In law it is good policy never to plead what you need 
not, lest you oblige yourself to prove what you can not," he 
wrote. He would thus give away point after point with an 
indifferent "I reckon that's so," until the point which he con- 
sidered pivotal was reached, and there he hung. 

"In making a speech," says Mr. John Hill, "Mr. Lincoln 
was the plainest man I ever heard. He was not a speaker but 
a talker. He talked to jurors and to political gatherings 
plain, sensible, candid talk, almost as in conversation, no ef- 
fort whatever in oratory. But his talking had wonderful ef- 
fect. Honesty, candor, fairness, everything that was con- 
vincing, were in his manner and expressions." 

This candor of which Mr. Hill speaks characterized his 
entire conduct of a trial. "It is well understood by the pro- 
fession," says General ]\Iason Brayman, "that lawyers do not 
read authorities favoring the opposing side. I once heard 
Mr. Lincoln, in the supreme court of Illinois, reading from a 
reported case some strong points in favor of his argument 
Reading a little too far, and before becoming aware of it, he 



256 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

plunged into an authority against himself. Pausing a mo- 
ment, he drew up his shoulders in a comical way, and half 
laughing, went on, 'There, there, may it please the court, I 
reckon Fve scratched up a snake. But, as I'm in for it, I 
guess I'll read it through.' Then, in his most ingenious and 
matchless manner, he went on with his argument, and won 
his case, convincing the court that it was not much of a snake 
after all." 



CHAPTER XVI 

LINCOLN^S IMPORTANT LAW CASES DEFENCE OF A SLAVE 

GIRL THE MCCORMICK CASE THE ARMSTRONG MUR- 
DER CASE THE ROCK ISLAND BRIDGE CASE 

Abraham Lincoln's place in the legal circle of Illinois 
has never been clearly defined. The ordinary impression is 
that, though he was a faithful and trusted lawyer, he never 
rose to the first rank of his profession. This idea has come 
from imperfect information concerning his legal career. An 
examination of the reports of the Illinois Supreme Court 
from 1840, when he tried his first case before that body, to 
1 86 1, when he gave up his profession to become President of 
the United States, shows that in this period of twenty years, 
broken as it was, from 1847 to 1849, by a term in Congress, 
and interrupted constantly, from 1854 to i860, by his labors 
in opposition to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, Lin- 
coln was engaged in nearly one hundred cases before that 
oourt, some of them of great importance. This fact shows 
him to have been one of the leading lawyers of his State. 
Between ninety and one hundred cases before the Supreme 
Court of a State in twenty years is a record surpassed by but 
few lawyers. It was exceeded by none of Lincoln's Illinois 
contemporaries. 

Among the cases in which he was prominent and of which 
we have reports, there are several of dramatic import, 
viewing them, as we can now, in connection with his 
later life. One of the first in which he appeared before the 
Illinois Supreme Court involved the freedom of a negro girl 
called Nance. In spite of the fact that Illinois had been free 

257 



258 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

since its admission as a State, many traces of slavery still 
remained, particularly in the southern and central parts 
of the State. Among the scattered slaveholders was one 
Nathan Cromwell of Tazewell County, who for some years 
had in his service a negro girl, Nance. He claimed that 
Nance was bound to him by indenture, and that he had the 
right to sell her as any other property, a right he succeeded 
finally in exercising. One of his neighbors, Baily by name, 
bought the girl ; but the purchase was conditional : Baily was 
to pay for his property only when he received from Cromwell 
title papers showing that Nance was bound to serve under 
the laws of the State. These papers Cromwell failed to pro- 
duce before his death. Later his heirs sued Baily for the 
purchase price. Baily employed Lincoln to defend him. The 
case was tried in September, 1839, ^"^1 decided against Baily. 
Then in July, 1S41, it was tried again, before the Supreme 
Court of tiie State. Lincoln proved that Nance had lived for 
several years in the State, that she was over twenty-one years 
of age, that she had declared herself to be free, and tliat she 
had even purchased goods on her own account. The list of 
authorities he used in the trial to prove that Nance could 
not be held in bondage shows that he was already familiar 
with both Federal and State legislation on the slavery ques- 
tion up to that date. He went back to the Ordinance of 
1787, to show that slavery was forbidden in the Northwest 
Territory; he recalled the Constitution that had made the 
State free in 1818; he showed that by the law of nations no 
person can be sold in a free State. His argument convinced 
the court; the. judgment of the lower court was overruled., 
and Nance was free. 

After Lincoln's return from Congress in 1849, he was en- 
gaged in some of the most important cases of the day. One 
of these was a contest between the Illinois Central Railroad, 
at that time building, and McLean County, Illinois. This 




Lincoln's office book-case, chair, and ink-stand 

(In ihe Lincoln collection of Mr. William H. Lambert of Philadelphia, Pa.) 

They formerly belonged to the Lincoln Memorial Collection of Chicago. Accompanying the ink- 
nd is a letter saying that Mr. Lincoln wrote from it the famous " house-divided-against-itself " 



Stan 
speech. 



IMPORTANT LAW CASES 259 

road had been exempted by the legislature from all State 
taxation on condition that it pay perpetually into the State 
treasury seven per cent, of its annual gross earnings. When 
the line was laid in McLean County the county authorities 
declared that the State legislature could not excuse the rail- 
road company from paying county taxes; accordingly the 
company's property was assessed and a tax levied. L" this 
claim of the countv could be sustained, it was certain tr. kill 
the railroad ; and great preparations were made for the de- 
fence. The solicitor of the Illinois Central at that time was 
General Mason Bravman. who retained Lincoln. The case 
was tried at Bloomington, before the supreme court, and, 
largely through the efforts of Lincoln, was won for the road. 
According to Herndon, Lincoln charged for his services a 
fee of two thousand dollars. Going to Chicago he presented 
his bill. "Why," said the officer to whom he applied, "this is 
as much as a first-class lawyer w^ould have charged." 

Stung by the ungrateful speech, Lincoln withdrew the bill, 
left the office, and at the first opportunity submitted the mat- 
ter to his friends. Five thousand dollars, they all agreed, 
was a moderate fee, considering what he had done for the 
road, and six leading lawyers of the State signed a paper in 
which they declared that such a charge would not he. "un- 
reasonable." Lincoln then sued the road for that amount, 
and won his case. "He gave me my half," says Herndon; 
"and as much as we deprecated the avarice of great corpora- 
tions, we both thanked the Lord for letting the Illinois Cen- 
tral Railroad fall into our hands." 

The current version of this story names General George B. 
McClellan as the testy official who snubbed Lincoln when he 
presented the bill. This could not have been. The incident 
occurred in 1855; that year Captain McClellan s])ent in the 
Crimea, as one of a commission of three sent abroad to study 
the European military service as disolayed in the Crimean 



26o LIFE OF LINCOLN 

war. It was not until January, 1857, that McClellan re- 
signed his commission in the United States army to become 
the chief engineer, and afterwards vice-president, of the Illi- 
nois Central Railroad. It was when an officer of the Illinois 
Central, however, that McClellan first met Lincoln. "Long 
before the war," he says, in "McClellan's Own Story," 
"when vice-president of tlie Illinois Central Railroad, I knew 
Mr. Lincoln, for he was one of the counsel of the company. 
More than once I have been with him in out-of-the-way 
county-seats where some important case was being tried, and, 
in the lack of sleeping accommodations, have spent the night 
in front of a stove, listening to the unceasing flow of anec- 
dotes from his lips. He was never at a loss, and I could 
never quite make up my mind how many of them he had 
really heard before, and how many he invented on the spur 
of the moment. His stories were seldom refined, but were 
always to the point." 

It was through his legal practice that Lincoln first met 
still another man w'ho was to sustain a relation of the great- 
est importance to him in the war. This man was Edwin 
M. Stanton. The meeting occurred in Cincinnati in 1855, in 
connection with a patent case which is famous in the legal 
history of the country, and in which both Lincoln and Stan- 
ton had been retained as counsel. So much that is false has 
been written of this meeting, that a full and exact statement 
of the circumstances has 1)een obtained for this work from 
Mr. George Harding of Philadelphia, the only one of either 
judges or counsel in the case living at this writing. 

"Cyrus LI. McCormick owned reaping-machine patents 
grrtuted in 1845 and 1847," says Mr. Harding. "u])on which 
he sued John M. Manny and Co. of Rockford, Illinois. Mr. 
Manny had obtained ])atents also.' Manny and Co. were 
large manufacturers of reaping-machines under Manny's 
patents. McCormick contended that his patents were valid 
and secured to him a virtual monopoly of all practical reap- 



IMPORTANT LAW CASES 261 

ing machines as constructed at that date. If McCormick had 
been successful in his contention, Manny would have l)ecn 
enjoined, his factory stopped, and a claim of four hundred 
thousand dollars damages demanded from his firm. AicCor- 
mick's income from that monopoly would have been vastly 
increased. Hence the suit was very important to all parties 
and to the farming public. The plaintiff McCormick had re- 
tained Mr. E. N. Dickerson and Reverdy Johnson. The 
former was entrusted with the preparation of the plaintiff's 
case and the argument before the court on the mechanics of 
the case. Mr. P. H. Watson, who had procured Manny's 
patents, was given by Manny the entire control of the de- 
fendant's case. He employed Air. George Harding to pre- 
pare the defence for Manny, and to argue the mechanics of 
the case before the court. In those times it was deemed im- 
portant in patent cases to employ associate counsel not spe- 
cially familiar with mechanical questions, but of high stand- 
ing in the general practice of the law, and of recognized 
forensic ability. If such counsel represented the defendant 
he urged upon the court the importance of treating the 
patentee as a quasi-monopolist, whose claims should be 
limited to the precise mechanical contributions which he had 
made to the art ; while, on the other hand, the plaintiff's 
forensic counsel was expected to dwell upon the privations 
and labor of the patentee, and insist on a very liberal view 
of his claims, and to hold that defendants who had ap{>ro- 
priated any of his ideas should be treated as pirates. The 
necessity of the forensic contribution in the argument of 
patent cases is not now recognized. 

"McCormick had selected Mr. Reverdy Johnson for the 
forensic part of his case. Mr. Watson was in doubt as to 
whom to select to perform this duty for the defendants. At 
the suggestion of Mr. Manny, Mr. Watson wrote to Mr. Lin- 
coln, sending to him a retainer of five hundred dollars, and 
recjuesting him to read the testimony, which was sent to him 
from time to time as taken, so that if Mr. Watson afterward 
concluded to have him argue the case he would be prepared, 
Mr. Harding had urged the employment of Mr. Stanton, 
who was personally known to him, and who then resided at 
Pittsburg, 



202 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

"With a view to determining finally who should argue th^ 
forensic part of Manny's case, Mr. W'atstju personally \'isited 
Springfield and conferred with Mr. Lincoln. On his way 
back from Springfield he called upon Mr. Stanton at LMlts- 
burg, and, after a conference, retained Mr. Stanton, and in- 
formed him distinctly that he was to make the closing argu- 
ment in the case. Nevertheless Mr. Lincoln was sent copies 
of the testimony ; he studied the testimony, and was paid for 
so doing, the same as Mr. Stanton. Mr. Watson considered 
that it would be prudent for Mr. Lincoln to be prepared, in 
case of Mr. Stanton's inability, for any cause, to argue the 
case; so that, at the outset, Mr. Stanton was selected by Mr, 
Manny's direct re])resentalive to perform this duty. 

"When all the parties and counsel met at Cincinnati, J^Ir. 
Lincoln was first definitely informed by Mr. Watson of his 
determination that Mr. Stanton was to close the case for de- 
fendants. Mr. Lincoln was evidently disai)pointed at Mr. 
Watson's decision. Ah\ Lincoln had written out his argu- 
ment in full. He was anxious to meet Mr. Reverdy Johnson 
in forensic contest. The case was important as to the amount 
in dispute, and of widespread interest to farmers. Mr. Lin- 
coln's feelings were eml)ittered, moreover, because the i)lain- 
tiff's counsel sul)se(juently, in open court, of their own mo- 
tion, stated that they perceived that there were three counsel 
present for defendant, and that plaintiff had only two coun- 
sel present ; but they were willing to allow all three of de- 
fendant's counsel to s])eak, provided Mr. Dickerson, who 
had charge of the mechanical part of McCormick's case, were 
permitted to make two arguments, besides Mr. Johnson's 
argument. Mr. \Vatson, who had charge of defendant's 
case, declined this offer, because the case ultimately de- 
pended upon mechanical cjuestions; and he thought that if 
Mr. Dickerson were allowed to open the mechanical part of 
the case, and then make a subsequent argument on the me- 
chanics, the temptation would be great to make ai; insuf- 
ficient or misleading mechanical opening of the case at first, 
and, after Mr. Harding had replied thereto, to make a fuller 
or different mechanical presentation, which could not be re- 
plied to by Mr. ILirding. It was conceded that neither Mr. 
Lincoln nor Mr. Stanton was prepared to handle the me- 



IMPORTANT LAW CASES 26 







cliaiiics of the case either in opening or rc[)ly. In view of 
these facts, Mr, Watson decided that only two arguments 
would be made f')r Manny, and that Mr. Harding would 
<..pen tlie case for defendant on the mechanical part, and Mr. 
Stanton would close on the general propositions of law ap- 
plicable to the case. Mr. Stanton said in court that i)er- 
sonally he had no desire to speak, but he agreed with Mr. 
Watson that only two arguments should be made for de- 
fendants whether he spoke or not. Mr. Lincoln, knowing 
Mr. Watson's wishes, insisted that Mr. Stanton sh(vuld make 
the closing argument, and that he would not himself speak. 
Mr. Stanton accepted the position, and did speak, because he 
knew that such was the expressed wish and direction of Mr. 
Watson, who controlled the conduct of defendant's case. 

"Mr. Lincoln kindly and gracefully, but regretfully, ac- 
cepted the situation. He attended, and exhibited much in- 
terest in the case as it proceeded. He sent to Mr. Harciing 
the written argument which he had prepared, that he might 
have the benefit of it before he made his opening argument ; 
but requested Mr. Harding not to show it to Mr. Stanton. 
The chagrin of Mr. Lincoln at not speaking continued, how- 
ever, and he felt that Mr. Stanton should have insisted on 
his, Mr. Lincoln's, speaking also; while Mr. Stanton merely 
carried out the positive direction of his client that there 
should be only two arguments for defendant, and that he, 
Mr. Stanton, should close the case, and Mr. Harding should 
open the case. Mr. Lincoln expressed to Mr. Harding satis- 
faction at the manner in which the mechanical part of the 
case had been presented by him, and after Mr. Lincoln had 
been elected President, he showed his recollection of it by 
tendering Mr. Harding, of his own motion, a high position. 

"In regard to the j^ersonal treatment of Mr. Lincoln while 
in attendance at Cincinnati, it is to be borne in mind that Mr. 
Lincoln was know n to hardly any one in Cincinnati at that 
date, and that Mr. Stanton was i)r()bably not impressed with 
the api^earance of Mr. Lincoln. It is true there was no per- 
sonal intimacy formed between them while at Cincinnati. 
Mr. Lincoln was disappointed and unhai)py while in Cin- 
cinnati, and undoubtedly did not receive the attention which 
he should have received. Mr. Lincoln felt all this, and par- 



264 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

ticularly, but unjustly, reflected upon Mr. Stanton as th6 
main caase. When Mr. Lincoln was nominated for I'resi- 
dent, Mr. Stanton, like many others in the country, sincerely 
doubted whether Mr. Lincoln was equal to the tremendous 
responsibility which he was to be called upon to assume as 
President. This is to be borne in mind, in view of events 
subsequent to the case at Cincinnati. ]Mr. Stanton never 
called upon Mr. Lincoln after he came to Washington as 
President. Mr. Lincoln in alluding to Mr. Stanton (l)oth 
before and after his election as President) did not attempt 
to conceal his unkind feeling towards him, which had its 
origin at Cincinnati. This feeling did not undergo a change 
until after he met ]Mr. Stanton as Secretary of War. 

"The occurrences narrated show how one great man may 
underrate his fellow man. Mr. Stanton saw at Cincinnati 
in Mr. Lincoln only his gaunt, rugged features, his awkward 
dress and carriage, and heard only his rural jokes ; but Stan- 
ton lived to perceive in those rugged lineaments only expres- 
sions of nobility and loveliness of character, and to hear from 
his lips only wisdom, prudence, and courage, couched in lan- 
guage unsurpassed in literature. P)Ut above all they show 
the nobility of Mr. Lincoln's character in forgetting all un- 
kind personal feeling engendered at Cincinnati towards Mr. 
Stanton, and subsequentlv appointing him his Secretary of 
War. 

" The above was narrated by Mr. Harding for the main 
purpose of correcting the popular impression that Mr. Stan- 
ton, of his own motion, rode over and displaced Mr. Lincoln 
in the case at Cincinnati ; for the truth is that Mr. Stanton, 
in the course he pursued, was directed by his clients' repre- 
sentative, Mr. Watson, w'ho believed that he was serving 
the best interests of his clients." 

Lincoln was first suggested to Mr. Manny as counsel in 
this case by a younger member of the firm, Mr. Ralph Emer- 
son, of Rockford, Illinois. Mr. Emerson, as a student of 
law, had been thrown much into company with Mr. Lincoln, 
and had learned to respect his judgment and ability. Indeed, 
it was Lincoln who was instrumental in deciding him to 



IMPORTANT LAW CASES 265 

abandon the law. The young- man had seen much in the 
practice of his chosen profession which seemed to liim un- 
just, and he had begun to feel that the law was incompati- 
ble with his ideals. One evening, after a particularly trying 
day in court, he walked out with Lincoln. Suddenly turn- 
ing to his companion, he said: "Mr. Lincoln, I want to ask 
you a question. Is it possible for a man to practice law and 
always do by others as he would be done by?" Lincoln's 
head dropped on his breast, and he walked in silence for a 
long way; then he heaved a heavy sigh. When he finally 
spoke, it was of a foreign matter. ''I had my answer," said 
Mr. Emerson, "and that walk turned the course of my life." 
During the trial at Cincinnati, Lincoln and Mr. Emerson 
were thrown much together, and Mr. Emerson's recollec- 
tions are particularly interesting, 

" As I was the sole intimate friend of Mr. Lincoln in the 
case, when it was decided that he should not take part in the 
argument, he invited me to his room to express his bitter dis- 
appointment ; and it was with difficulty that I persuaded him 
to remain as counsel during the hearing. We generally 
spent the afternoons together. The hearing had hardly pro- 
gressed two days before Mr. Lincoln expressed to me his 
satisfaction that he was not to take part in the argument. 
So many and so deep were the questions involved that he 
realized he had not given the subject sufficient study to have 
done himself justice. 

"The court-room, which during the first day or two was 
well filled, greatly thinned out as the argument ])roceeded 
day after day. But as the crowd diminished, Mr. Lincoln's 
interest in the case increased. He appeared entirely to forget 
himself, and at times, rising from his chair, walked back and 
forth in the open space of the court-room, as though he were 
in his own office, pausing to listen intently as one point after 
another was clearly made out in our favor. He manifested 
such delight in countenance and unconscious action that its 
effect on the judges, one of whom at least already highly re- 
spected him, was evidently stronger than any set speech of 



266 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

his could possibly have been. The impression produced on 
the judges was evidently that Mr. Lincoln was thoroughly 
convinced of the justice of our side, and anxious that we 
should prevail, not merely on account of his interest in his 
clients, but because he thought our case was just and should 
triumph. 

"The final summmg up on our side was by Mr. Stanton; 
and though he took but about three hours in its delivery, 
he had devoted as many, if not more, weeks to its prepara- 
tion. It was very able, and Mr. Lincoln was throughout the 
whole of it a rapt listener. Mr. Stanton closed his speech in 
a flight of impassioned eloquence. Then the court adjourned 
for the day, and Mr. Lincoln invited me to take a long walk 
with him. For block after block he walked rapidly forward, 
not saying a word, evidently deeply dejected. 

"At last he turned suddenly to me, exclaiming, 'Emerson, 
I am going home.' A pause. T am going home to study 
law.' 

'' 'Why,' I exclaimed, 'Mr. Lincoln, you stand at the head 
of the bar in Illinois now ! What are you talking about ?' 

" 'Ah, yes,' he said, 'I do occupy a good position there, 
and I think that I can get along with the way things are 
done there now. But these college-trained men, wdio have 
devoted their whole lives to study, are coming West, don't 
you see? And they stUvly their cases as we never do. They 
liave got as far as Cincinnati now. They will soon l)e in 
Illinois.' Another long pause ; then stopping and turning 
toward me, his countenance suddenly assuming that look of 
strong determination which those who knew him best some- 
times saw upon his face, he exclaimed, 'I am going home to 
study law ! I am as good as any of them, and when they get 
out to Illinois I will be ready for them.' " 

The fee which Lincoln received in the McCormick case, in- 
cluding the retainer, which was five hundred dollars — the 
largest retainer ever received by Lincoln — amounted to 
nearly two thousand dollars. Except the sum paid him by 
the Illinois Central Railroad it was probably the largest fee 
he ever received. The two sums came to him about the same 



IMPORTANT LAW CASES 267 

time, and undoubtedly lielped to tide over the rather un- 
fruitful period, from a financial standpoint which followed 
— the period of his contest with Douglas for the Senate. 
Lincoln never made money. From 1850 to i860 his income 
averaged from two thousand to three thousand dollars a 
year. In the forties it was considerably less. The fee-book 
of Lincoln and Herndon for 1847 shows total earnings of 
only fifteen hundred dollars. The largest fee entered was 
one of one hundred dollars. There are several of fifty dol- 
lars, a number of twenty, more of ten, still more of five, and 
a few of three dollars. 

But Lincoln's fees were as a rule smaller than his clients 
expected or his fellow lawyers approved of. Mr. Abraham 
Brokaw of Bloomington, Illinois, tells the following story 
illustrating Lincoln's idea of a proper fee. One of Mr. Bro- 
kaw's neighbors had borrowed about $500.00 from him and 
gixen his note. When it became due the man refused to pay. 
Action was brought, and the sheriff levied on the property 
of the debtor and finally collected the entire debt ; but at 
about that time the sheriff was in need of funds and used 
the money collected. When Brokaw demanded it from him 
he was unable to pay it and was found to be insolvent. 
Thereupon Brokaw employed Stephen A. Douglas to sue the 
sureties on the official bond of the sheriff. Douglas brought 
the suit and soon collected the claim. But Douglas was at 
that time in the midst of a campaign for Congress and the 
funds were used by him with the expectation of being able 
to pay Brokaw later. However, he neglected the matter 
and went to Washington without making any settlement. 
Brokaw, although a life-long and ardent Democrat and a 
great admirer of Douglas, was a thrifty German and 
did not propose to lose sight of his money. After fruit- 
lessly demanding the money from Douglas, Brokaw went 
to David Davis, then in general practice at Blooming- 



268 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

ton, told him the circumstances and asked him to under- 
take the collection of the money from Douglas. Davis pro- 
tested that he could not do it, that Douglas was a personal 
friend and a brother lawyer and Democrat and it would be 
very disagreeable for him to have anything to do with the 
matter. He finally said to Brokaw, "You wait until the next 
term of court and Lincoln will be here. He would like noth- 
ing better than to have this claim for collection. I will intro- 
duce you to him and I have no doubt he will undertake it." 
Shortly after, Brok"w was presented to Lincoln, stated his 
case and engaged his services. Lincoln promptly wrote 
Douglas, still at Washington, that he had the claim for col- 
lection and that he must insist upon prompt payment. Doug- 
las, very indignant, wrote directly to Brokaw that he thought 
the placing of the claim in Lincoln's hands a gross outrage, 
that he and Brokaw were old friends and Democrats and 
that Brokaw ought not to place any such weapon in the 
hands of such an Abolitionist opponent as Lincoln and if he 
could not wait until Douglas returned he should at least have 
placed the claim for collection in the hands of a Democrat. 
Brokaw's thrift again controlled and he sent Douglas' letter 
to Lincoln. Thereupon Lincoln placed the claim in the hands 
of "Long" John Wentworth, then a Democratic member of 
Congress from Chicago Wentworth called upon Douglas 
and insisted upon payment, which shortly after was made, 
and Brokaw at last received his money. "And what do you 
suppcise Lincoln charged me?" Brokaw says in telling the 
story. After hearing a few guesses he answers, "He charged 
me exactly $3.50 for collecting nearly $600.00." 

Such charges were felt by the lawyers of the Eighth Cir- 
cuit, with some reason, to be ])urely Quixotic. They pro- 
tested and argued, but Lincoln went on serenely charguig 
what he thought his services worth AVard Lamon who v.'as 
one of Lincoln's numerous circuit partners sr>ys that he and 



IMPORTANT LAW CASES 269 

Lincoln frequently fell out on the matter of fees. On one oc- 
casion Lamon was particularly incensed. He had charged 
and received a good sized fee for a case which tlie two had 
tried together and won. When Lamon offered Lincoln his 
share he refused it. The fee was too large, he said, part of ir. 
must be refunded and he would not accept a cent until part 
of it had been refunded. Judge Davis heard of this transac- 
tion. He was himself a shrewd money-maker, never hesi- 
tating to take all he could legally get and he felt strong dis- 
gust at this disinterested attitude about money. Calling 
Lincoln to him the judge scolded roundly. "You are pau- 
perizing this court, Mr. Lincoln, you are ruining your fel- 
lows. Unless you quit this ridiculous policy, we shall all 
have to go to farming." But not even the ire of the bench 
moved Lincoln. 

If a fee w^as not paid, Lincoln did not believe in suing for 
it. Mr. Herndon says that he would consent to be swindled 
before he would contest a fee. The case of the Illinois Cen- 
tral railroad, however, was an exception to this rule. He was 
careless in accounts, never entering anything on the book. 
When a fee was paid to him, he simply divided tlie money 
into two parts, one of which he put into his pocket, and the 
other into an envelope which he labelled "Herndon's half." 
Lincoln's whole theory of the conduct of a lawyer in regard 
to money is summed up in the "notes" for a law lecture 
which he left among his papers : 

" The matter of fees is important, far beyond the mere 
question of bread and butter involved. Properly attended to, 
fuller justice is done to both lawyer and client. An ex- 
orbitant fee should never be claimed. As a general rule never 
take your whole fee in advance, nor any more than a small 
retainer. When fully paid beforehand, you are more than a 
common niortal if you can feel the same interest in the case, 
as if something was still in prospect for you, as well as for 
your client. And when you lack interest in the case the 



2 70 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

job will very likely lack skill and diligence in the perfom^ 
ance. S&ttle the amount oi fee and take a note in advance. 
Then you will feel that you are working for something, and 
you are sure to do your work faithfully and well. Never sell 
a fee note — at least not before the consideration service is 
performed. It leads to negligence and dishonesty — negli- 
gence by losing interest in the case, and dishonesty in re- 
fusing to refund when you have allowed the consideration 
to fail." 

If a client was poor, and Lincoln's sympathies were 
aroused, he not infrequently refused pay. There are a few 
well authenticated cases of his offering his services to those 
whom he believed he could help, stipulating when he did it 
that he would make no charge. The best known example of 
this is the Armstrong murder case. 

William, or "Duff" Armstrong, as he was generally 
called, was the son of Lincoln's New Salem friends. Jack 
and Hannah Armstrong. In August, 1857, Duff and a num- 
ber of his mates had joined a crowd of ruffians who had 
gathered on the outskirts of a camp-meeting held near Ha- 
vana, in Macon county. He had drunk heavily for some 
days, and, finally, in a broil on the night of August 29, had 
beaten a comrade, one Metzker, who had provoked him to a 
fight. That same night Metzker was hit with an ox-yoke 
by another drunken reveller, Norris by name. Three days 
later he died. Both Armstrong and Norris were arrested. 
Marks of two blows were on the victim, either of which 
might have killed him. That Norris had dealt one was 
proved. Did Armstrong deal the other? He claimed he 
had used nothing but his fists in the broil ; but both the marks 
on Metzker were such as must have been made by some in- 
strument. The theory was developed that one blow was 
from a slung-shot used by Armstrong, and that he and Nor- 
ris had acted in concert, deliberately planning to murder 
Metzker. Outraged by the cruelty of the deed, the wholf 



IMPORTANT LAW CASES 271 

countryside demanded the punishment of the prisoners. Just 
at the time that Armstrong was thrown into prison his father 
died, his last charge to his wife Hannah being, ''SeU every- 
thing you have and clear Duff." 1 rue to her trust, Hannah 
engaged two lawyers of Havana, both of whom are still liv- 
ing, to defend her boy. Anxious lest the violence of public 
feeling should injure DufT's chances, the lawyers secured a 
change of venue to Cass county, their client remaining in 
prison until spring. Norris, in the meantime, was convicted, 
and sentenced to eight years in the penitentiary. 

When the lawyers and witnesses assembled in Beards- 
town, May, 185S, for Armstrong's trial, it happened that 
Lincoln was attending court in the town. At that moment 
he was, after Stephen A. Douglas, the most conspicuous 
man in Illinois. His future course in politics was a source of 
interest in the East as well as the West. The coming con- 
test with Douglas for the senatorship — for it was already 
probable that he would be the candidate in the convention 
which was only a month away — was causing him intense 
anxiety. Yet occupied as he was with his profession, and 
harassed by the critical political situation, he did not hesitate 
an instant when Hannah Armstrong came to him for advice. 
Going to her lawyers, he said he should like to assist them. 
They, of course, were glad of his aid. and he at once took the 
case in hand. His first care was the selection of a jury. Not 
knowing the neighborhood well, he could not discriminate 
closely as to individuals ; but he took pains, as far as he could 
control the choice, to have only young men chosen, believing 
that they would be more favorable to the prisoner. A sur- 
viving witness in the case estimates that the average age of 
the jury was not over twenty-three years. 

The jury empanelled, the examination of witnesses seems 
to have been conducted, on behalf of the defence chiefly by 
Lincoln. Many of the witnesses bore familiar names. Some 



2 72 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

were sons of "Clary's Grove Boys," and Lincoln had known 
their fathers. "The witnesses were kept out of the court- 
room until called to testify," says William A, Douglas. "I 
happened to be the first witness called, and so heard the 
whole trial. When William Killian was called to the stand, 
Lincoln asked him his name. 

" 'William Killian,' was the reply. 

"'Bill Killian,' Lincoln repeated in a familiar way; 'tell 
me, are you a son of old Jake Killian ?' 

" 'Yes, sir,' answered the witness. 

" 'Well,' said Lincoln, somewhat aside, 'you are a smart 
boy if you take after your dad.' " 

As the trial developed it became evident that there could 
have been no collusion between Armstrong and Norris, but 
there was strong evidence that Armstrong had used a slung- 
shot. The most damaging evidence was that of one Allen, 
who swore that he had seen Armstrong strike Metzker about 
ten or eleven o'clock in the evening. When asked how he 
could see, he answered that the moon shone brightly. Under 
Lincoln's questioning he repeated the statement until it was 
impossible that the jury should forget it. With Allen's testi- 
mony unimpeached, conviction seemed certain. 

Lincoln's address to the jury was full of genuine pathos. 
It was not as a hired attorney that he was there, he said, but 
to discharge a debt of friendship. "Uncle Abe," says Duff 
Armstrong himself, "did his best talking when he told the 
jury what true friends my father and mother had been to 
him in the early days. . . . He told how he used to go 
out to 'Jack' Armstrong's and stay for days; how kind 
mother was to him ; and how, many a time, he had rocked me 
to sleep in the old cradle." 

But Lincoln was not relying on sympathy alone to win his 
case. In closing he reviewed the evidence, showing that all 
depended on Allen's testimony, and this he said he could 



IMPORTANT LAW CASES 2-]^^ 

prove to be false. Allen never saw Armstrong strike Metz- 
ker by the light of the moon, for at the hour when he said 
he saw the fight, between ten and eleven o'clock, the moon 
was not in the heavens. Then producing an almanac, he 
passed it to the judge and jury. The moon, which was on 
that night only in its first quarter, had set before midnight. 
This unexpected overthrow of the testimony by which Lin- 
coln had taken care that the jury should be most deeply im- 
pressed, threw them into confusion. There was a complete 
change of feeling. Lincoln saw it ; and as he finished his ad- 
dress, and the jury left the room, turning to the boy's 
mother, he said, "Aunt Hannah, your son will be free before 
sundown." 

Lincoln had not misread his jury. Duff Armstrong was 
discharged as not guilty. 

There has long been a story current that the dramatic in- 
troduction of the almanac, by which certainly the audience 
and jury were won, was a pure piece of trickery on Lincoln's 
part; that the almanac was not one of 1857, but of 1853, in 
which the figure three had been changed throughout to 
seven. The best reply to this charge of forgery is the very 
evident one that it was utterly unnecessary. The almanac 
for August, 1857, shows that the moon was exactly in the 
position where it served Lincoln's client's interests best. He 
did not need to forge an almanac, the one of the period being 
all that he could want. 

Another murder case in which Lincoln defended the ac- 
cused occurred in August, 1859. The victim was a student 
in his own law office, Greek Crafton. The niurderc Peachv 
Harrison, was the grandson of Lincoln's old poetical antago- 
nist, Peter Cartwright. Both young men were connected 
with the best families of the county; the brother of one was 
married to the sister of the other; they had been life-long 
friends. In an altercation upon some -Political question hot 



2 74 i-IFE OF LINCOLN 

words were exclianged, and Harrison, beside himselt, 
stabbed Crafton, who three days later died from the wound. 
The best known lawyers of the State were engaged for the 
case. Senator John M. Palmer and General A. McClernand 
were on the side of the prosecution. Among those who rep- 
resented the defendant were Lincoln, Herndon, Logan, and 
Senator Shelby M. Cullom, The tragic pathos of a case 
wdiich involved, as this did, the deepest affections of almost 
an entire community, reached its climax in the appearance 
in court of the venerable Peter Cartwright. No face in Illi- 
nois was better known than his, no life had been spent in a 
more relentless war on evil. Eccentric and aggressive as 
he \vas, he was honored far and wdde ; and when he arose in 
the witness stand, his white hair crowned with this cruel sor- 
row, the most indifferent spectator felt that his examination 
would be unbearable. It fell to Lincoln to question Cart- 
wright. With the rarest gentleness he began to put his ques- 
tions. 

"How long have you known the prisoner?" 

Cartwright's head dropped on his breast for a moment; 
then straightening himself, he passed his hand across his 
eyes and answered hi a deep, quavering voice : 

"I have known him since a babe, he laughed and cried on 
my knee." 

The examination ended by Lincoln drawing from the wit- 
ness the story of how Crafton had said to him, just before 
his death : "I am dying; I will soon part with all I love on 
earth, and I want you to say to my slayer that I forgive him. 
I want to leave this earth with a forgiveness of all who have 
in any way injured me." 

This examination made a profound impression on the 
jury. Lincoln closed his argument by picturing the scene 
anew, appealing to the jury to practice the same forgiving 
spirit that the murdered man had shown on his death-bed. 



IMPORTANT LAW CASES 275 

It was undoubtedly to his handling of the grandfather's evi- 
dence that Harrison's acquittal was due. 

A class of legal work which Lincoln enjoyed particularly 
was that in which mathematical or mechanical problems were 
involved. He never lost interest in his youthful pot-boiling 
profession of surveying, and would go out himself to make 
sure of boundaries if a client's case required particular in- 
vestigation. Indeed, he was generally recognized by his fel- 
low lawyers as an authority in surveying, and as late as 1859 
his opinion on a disputed question was sought by a conven- 
tion of surveyors who had met in Springfield. '« inc ui ilie 
most interesting cases involving mechanical problems which 
Lincoln ever argued was that of the Rock Island Bridge. It 
was not, however, the calculations he used which made it 
striking. The case was a dramatic episode in the war long 
waged by the Mississippi against the plains beyond. For 
decades the river had been the willing burden-bearer of the 
West. Now, however, the railroad had come. The Rock 
Island road had even dared to bridge the stream to carry 
away the traffic which the river claimed. 

In May, 1856, a steamboat struck one of the piers of the 
bridge, and was wrecked and burned. One pier of the bridge 
was also destroyed. The boat owners sued the railroad com- 
pany. The suit was the beginning of the long and violent 
struggle for commercial supremacy between St. Louis and 
Chicago. In Chicago it was commonly believed that the St. 
Louis Chamber of Commerce had bribed the captain of the 
boat to run upon the pier ; and it was said that later, when the 
bridge itself was burned, the steamers gathered near and 
whistled for joy. The case was felt to involve the future 
course of western commerce ; and when it was called in Sep- 
tember, 1857, at Chicago, people crowded there from all over 
the West. Norman B. Judd, afterwards so prominent in the 
politics of the State, was the attornev of the road, and he en- 



276 1-IFE OF LINCOLN 

gaged Lincoln, among others, as counsel. Lincoln made an 
address to the jury which those who remember it declare to 
have been one of his strongest legal arguments. 

" The two points relied upon by the opponents of the 
bridge," says Judge Blodgett of Chicago, " were: 

"First. That the river was the great waterway for the 
commerce of the valley, and could not legally be obstructed 
by a bridge. 

"Second. That this particular bridge was so located with 
reference to the channel of the river at that point as to make 
it a peril to all water craft navigating the river and an un- 
necessary obstruction to navigation. 

"The first proposition had not at that time been directly 
passed upon by the Supreme Court of the United States, al- 
though the Wheeling Bridge case involved the question ; but 
the court had evaded a decision upon it, by holding that the 
Wheeling Bridge was so low as to be an unnecessary obstruc- 
tion to the use of the river by steamboats. The discussion oi 
the first proposition on the part of the bridge company de- 
volved mainly upon Mr. Abraham Lincoln. 

'T listened with much interest to his argument on this 
point, and while I was not impressed by it as a specially elo- 
f|uent effort (as the w^ord eloquent is generally understood), 
I have always considered it as one of the ablest efforts I ever 
heard from Mr. Lincoln at the bar. His illustrations were 
apt and forcible, his statements clear and logical, and his rea- 
sons in favor of the policy (and necessarily the right) to 
bridge the river, and thereby encourage the settlement and 
building up of the vast area of fertile country to the west of 
it, were broad and statesmanlike. 

"The pith of his argument was in his statement that one 
man had as good a right to cross a river as another had to 
sail lip or doivn it; that these were equal and mutual rights 
which must be exercised so as not to interfere with each 
other, like the right to cross a street or highway and the right 
to pass along it. From this undeniable right to cross the 
river he then proceeded to discuss the means for crossing. 
J\Tust it always be by canoe or ferryboat ^ Must the products 
of all the boundless fertile country lying west of the river for 



IMPORTANT LAW CASES 277 

all time be compelled to stop on its western bank, be unloaded 
from the cars and loaded upon a boat, and after the transit 
across the river, be reloaded into cars on the other side, to 
continue their journey east? In this connection he drew a 
vivid picture of the future of the great West lying beyond 
the river, and argued that tlie necessities of commerce de- 
manded that the bridges across the river be a conceded right, 
which the steamboat interests ought not to be allowed to 
successfully resist, and thereby stay the progress of develop- 
ment and civilization in the region to the west. 

" While T cannot recall a word or sentence of the argu- 
ment, I well remember its effect on all who listened to it, and 
the decision of the court fully sustained the right to bridge so 
long as it did not unnecessarily obstruct navigation." 

All the papers in regard to the trial are supposed to have 
been burned in the Chicago fire of 1871, but the speech, 
which was reported by Congressman Hitt of Illinois, at that 
time court stenographer, was published on September 24, 
1857, in the Chicago " Daily Press," afterwards united with 
the " Tribune." 

According to this report the first part of the speech was 
devoted to the points Judge Blodgett outlines; the second 
part was given to a careful explanation of the currents of the 
Mississippi at the point where the bridge crossed. Lincoln 
succeeded in showing that had the pilot of the boat been as 
familiar as he ought to have been with the river, he could 
easily have prevented the accident. His argument was full of 
nice mathematical calculations clearly put, and was marked 
by perfect candor. Indeed, the honesty with which he ad- 
mitted the points made by the opposite counsel caused consid- 
erable alarm to some of his associates. Mrs. Norman B. Judd 
(Mr. Judd was the attorney of the road) says that Mr. Jo- 
seph B. Knox, who was also engaged with Mr. Lincoln in 
the defence, dined at her house the day that Lincoln made his 
speech. " He sat down at the dinner table in great excite- 



fc>' 



278 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

ment," writes Mrs. Judd, "saying, 'Lincoln has lost the case 
for us. The admissions he made in regard to the currents in 
the Mississippi at Rock Island and Moline will convince the 
court that a bridge at that point will always be a serious and 
constant detriment to navigation on the river.' 'Wait until 
you hear the conclusion of his speech,' replied Mr. Judd; 
'you will find his admission is a strong point instead of a 
weak one. and on it he will found a strong argument that will 
satisfy you.' " And as it proved, Mr. Judd was right. 

The few cases briefly outlined here show something of the 
range of Lincoln's legal work. They show that not only his 
friends like Hannah Armstrong believed in his power with a 
jury, but that great corporations like the Illinois Central 
Railroad were willing to trust their affairs in his hands; that 
he was not only a "jury lawyer," as has been often stated, 
but trusted when it came to questions of law pure and sim- 
ple. If this study of his cases were continued, it would only 
be to accumulate evidence to prove that Lincoln was consid- 
ered by his contemporaries one of the best lawyers of Illinois. 

It is worth notice, too, that he made his reputation as a 
lawyer and tried his greatest cases before his debate with 
Douglas gave him a national reputation. It was in 1855 that 
the Illinois Central engaged him first as counsel ; in 1855 that 
he went to Cincinnati on the McCormick case; in 1857 that 
he tried the Rock Island Bridge case. Thus his place was 
won purely on his legal ability unaided by political prestige. 
His success came, too, in middle life. Lincoln was forty 
years old in 1849, when he abandoned politics definitely, as 
he thought, for the law. He tried his greatest cases when he 
was from forty-five to forty-eight. 



CHAPTER XVII 

LINCOLN RE-ENTERS POLITICS 

From 1849 to 1854 Abraham Lincoln gave almost his en- 
tire time to his profession. Politics received from him only 
the attention which any public spirited citizen without per- 
sonal ambition should give. He kept close watch upon Fed- 
eral, State and local affairs. He was active in the efforts 
made in Illinois in 1851 to secure a more thorough party 
organization. In 1852 he was on the Scott electoral ticket 
and did some canvassing. But this was all. He was yearly 
becoming more absorbed in his legal work, losing more and 
more of his old inclination for politics, when in May, 
1854, the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused him 
as he had never been before in all his life. The Missouri 
Compromise was the second in that series of noble provis- 
ions for making new territory free territory, which liberty- 
loving men have wrested from the United States Congress, 
whenever the thirst for expansion has seized this country. 
The first of these was the " Ordinance of 1787," prohibiting 
slavery in all the great Northwest Territory. The second 
the Missouri Compromise, passed in 1820, was the result of 
a struggle to keep the Louisiana Purchase free. It pro- 
vided that Missouri might come in as a slave State if slavery 
was never allowed north of 36° 30' north latitude. 
The next great expansion of the United States after the 
Louisiana Purchase resulted from the annexation of Texas, 
and of the territory acquired by the Mexican War. The 
North was determined that this new territory should be 

279 



2So LIFE OF LINCOLN 

free. The South wanted it for slaves. The struggle be- 
tween them threatened the Union for a time, but it was 
adjusted by the compromise of 1850, in which, according 
to Mr, Lincoln's summing up, " the South got their new 
fugitive-slave law-, and the North got California (by far the 
best part of our acquisition from Mexico) as a free State. 
The South got a provision that New Mexico and Utah, 
when admitted as States, may come in with or without 
slavery, as they may then choose; and the North got the 
slave-trade abolished in the District of Columbia. The 
North got the western boundary of Texas thrown farther 
back eastward than the South desired; but, in turn, they 
gave Texas ten millions of dollars with which to pay her old 
debts." 

For three years matters w^ere quiet. Then Nebraska 
sought territorial organization. Now^ by the Missouri 
Compromise slavery was forbidden in that section of the 
Union, but in spite of this fact Stephen A. Douglas, 
then a member of the Senate of the United States, 
introduced a bill to give Nebraska and Kansas the de- 
sired government, to which later he added an amend- 
ment repealing the Missouri Compromise and permitting 
the people who should settle in the new territories to reject 
or establish slavery as they should see fit. It was the passage 
of this bill which brought Abraham Lincoln from the court 
room to the stump. His friend Richard Yates was run- 
ning for re-election to Congress. Lincoln began to speak 
for him, but in accepting invitations he stipulated that it 
should be against the Kansas-Nebraska bill that he talk. 
His earnestness surprised his friends. Lincoln was coming 
back into politics, they said, and when Douglas, the author 
of the repeal, was announced to speak in Springfield in Oc- 
tober of 1854, they called on Lincoln to meet him. 

Douglas was havine: a serious struggle to reconcile his 



RE-ENTERS POLITICS 281 

Illinois constituency. All the free sentiment of the State 
had been bitterly aroused by his part in the repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise, and when he first returned to Illinois 
it looked as if he would not be given even a hearing. Indeed, 
when he first attempted to speak in Chicago, September i, he 
was hooted from the platform. With every day in the 
State, however, he won back his friends, so great was his 
power over men, and he was beginning to arouse something 
of his old enthusiasm when he went to Springfield to speak 
at the annual State Fair. There was a great crowd present 
from all parts of the State, and Douglas spoke for three 
hours. When he closed it was announced that Lincoln would 
answer him the next day. Lincoln's friends expected him to 
do well in his reply, but his speech was a surprise even to 
those who knew him best. It was profound, finished, vigor- 
ous, eloquent. When had he mastered the history of the sla- 
very question so completely? they asked each other. " The 
anti-Nebraska speech of ]\Ir. Lincoln," said the Springfield 
" Journal " the next day, " was the profoundest, in our 
opinion that he, has made in his whole life. He felt upon 
his soul the truths burn which he uttered, and all present felt 
that he was true to his own soul. His feelings once or twice 
swelled within, and came near stifling utterance. He quiv- 
ered with emotion. The whole house was as still as death. 
He attacked the Nebraska bill with unusual warmth and 
energy; and all felt that a man of strength was its enemy, 
and that he intended to blast it if he could by strong and 
manly efforts. He was most successful, and the house ap- 
proved the glorious triumph of truth by loud and continued 
huzzas." 

The vigor and earnestness of Lincoln's speech aroused the 
crowd to such enthusiasm that Senator Douglas felt obliged 
to reply to him the next day. These speeches of October 3, 
4 and 5, 1854, form really the first of the series of Lincoln- 



282 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Douglas Debates They proved conclusively to the anti- 
Nebraska politicians in Illinois that Lincoln was to be their 
leader in the fig'ht they had begun against the extension of 
slavery 

Although the speech of October 4 was not preserved, we 
know from Paul Selby, at that time editor of an indepen- 
dent paper in Jacksonville, Illinois, which had been working 
hard against the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, that 
Lincoln's speech at Springfield was practically the same as 
one delivered twelve days later at Peoria in reply to Douglas, 
Of this latter a full report was preserved. 

In his reply at Peoria, Lincoln began by a brief but suffi- 
cient resume of the efforts of the North to apply the Declara- 
tion of Independence to all new territory which it acquired, 
and failing in that to provide for the sake of peace a series 
of compromises reserving as much territory as possible to 
freedom. He showed that the Kansas-Nebraska bill was a 
direct violation of one of the greatest of these solemn com- 
promises. This he declared was " wrong." " Wrong in its 
direct effect, letting slavery into Kansas and Nebraska, and 
wrong in its prospective principle, allowing it to spread to 
every other part of the wide world where men can lie found 
inclined to take it. This declared indift'erence, but, as I 
must think, covert real zeal, for the spread of slavery, I can- 
not l)ut hate. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice 
of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican 
example of its just influence in the world; enables the en- 
emies of free institutions with plausibility to taunt us as 
hypocrites; causes the real friends of freedom to doubt our 
sincerity; and es])ecially because it forces so many men 
among ourselves into an open war with the very funda- 
mental principles of civil liberty, criticizing the Declaration 
of Independence, and insisting that there is no right principle 
of action but self-interest." 



KE-ENTERS POLITIC 283 

Disavowing all " prejudice against the Southern people," 
le generously declared : 

" They are just what we would he in their situation. If 
;lavery did not exist among them, they would not introduce 
t. If it did now exist among us, we should not instantly 
r'xye it up. . . I surely will not blame them for not doing 
,vhat I should not know how to do myself. If all earthly 
)ower were given me, I should not know what to do as to the 
existing institution. My first impulse would be to free all 
;he slaves, antl send them to Liberia, to their own native 
and. But a moment's reHectiun would convince me that 
.vhatever of high hoi)e .... there may be in this in 
:he long run, its sudden execution is im])ossible. Tf they 
ivere all landed there in a day, they would all ])erish in the 
lext ten days, and there are not surplus shipping and sur- 
plus money enough to carry them there in many times ten 
:lays. ... 1 think I would not hold one in slavery at 
any rate, yet the point is not clear enough for me to de- 
nounce people ujjon It does seem to me 

that systems of gradual emancipation might be adopted, but 
for their tardiness in this I will not undertake to judge our 
brethren of the South. . , . The law which forbids the 
bringing of slaves from Africa, and that which has so long 
forbidden the taking of them into Nebraska, can hardly be 
distinguished on any moral principle, and the repeal of the 
former could find c|uite as plausible excuses as that of the 
latter." 

Taking up the arguments by which the repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise was justified, he answered them one 
by one with clearness and a great array of facts. The chief 
of these arguments was that the repeal was in the interest 
of the " sacred right of self-government " that the people 
of Nebraska had a right to govern themselves as they chose, 
voting for or against slavery as they pleased. 

" The doctrine of self-e:overnment is rio-ht." Lincoln said, 
absolutely and eternally rig'ht. but it has no just applica- 
tion as here attempted. Or perhaps I should rather say that 



284 i-IFE OF LINCOLN 

whether it has such appHcation depends upon whether a 
negro is not or is a man. If he is not a man, in that case 
lie who is a man may as a matter of self-government do just 
what he pleases with him. But if the negro is a man, is it 
not to that extent a total destruction of self-government to 
say that he too shall not govern himself? When the white 
man governs himself, that is self-government; but when he 
governs himself and also governs another man, that is more 
than self-government — that is despotism. If the negro is 
a man, why then my ancient faith teaches me that ' all men 
are created equal,' and that there can be no moral right in 
connection with one man's making a slave of another. 

" Judge Douglas frequently, with bitter irony and sar- 
casm, paraphrases our argument by saying : ' The white 
people of Nebraska are good enough to govern themselves, 
but they are not good enough to govern a few miserable 
negroes ! ' 

" Well ! I doubt not that the people of Nebraska are and 
will continue to be as good as the average of people else- 
where. I do not say the contrary. What I do say is that 
no man is good enough to govern another man without that 
other's consent. I say this is the leading principle, the sheet- 
anchor of American republicanism." 

This Peoria speech, which is very long, is particularly in- 
teresting to students of Mr. Lincoln's speeches, because in it 
is found the germ of many of the arguments which he elab- 
orated in the next six years and used with tremendous effect. 

With the Peoria speech Douglas had had enough of Lin- 
coln as an antagonist, and he made a compact with him that 
neither should speak again in the campaign. It was char- 
acteristic of Douglas that on his way to Chicago he should 
stop and deliver a speech at Princeton! 

But though Lincoln had temporarily withdrawn from the 
stump he was by no means abandoning the struggle. The 
iniquity of the Kansas-Nebraska bill grew greater to him 
every day. He meant to fight it to the end and he wanted to 
go where he could fight it directly. He became a candidate 



RE-ENTERS POLITICS 2S5 

for the General Assembly of Illinois from Sangamon County 
and u'as elected by a large majority in November. A little 
later he saw an opportunity for a larger position. Al- 
though Illinois was strongly Democratic, the revolt against 
the Nebraska bill had driven from the party a number of 
men. members of the Legislature who had signified their 
tletermination to vote only f(ir an Anti-Nebraska Senator. 
This gave the Whigs a chance, and several candidates of- 
fered themselves — among them Lincoln. Resigning from 
the Legislature (members of the Legislature could not be- 
come candidates for the senatorship), he began his elec- 
tioneering in the frank Western slyle of those days by re- 
questing his friends to support him. 

" I have really got it into my head to try to be United 
States Senator," he wrote his friend Gillespie, " and, if I 
could have your support, my chances would be reasonably 
good. But I know, and acknowledge, that you have as just 
claims to the place as I have; and therefore I cannot ask you 
to yield to me, if you are thinking of becoming a candidate 
yourself. If, however, you are not, then I should like to be 
remembered affectionately by you; and also to have you 
make a mark for me with the Anti-Nebraska members, down 
your way." 

He sent a large number of similar letters to friends, and 
by the first of January, when tlie Legislature re-assembled, 
he felt his chances of election were good. " I have more 
committals than any other man," he wrote his friend Wash- 
burne. Nevertheless he failed of the election. Just how he 
explained to Washburne early in February : 

*' I began with 44 votes. Shields (Democratic) 41, and 
Trumbull (Anti-Nebraska) 5, — yet Trumbull was elected. 
In fact, 47 different members voted for me, — getting three 
new ones on the second ballot, and losing four old ones. 
How came my 47 to yield to Trumbull's 5? It was Gov- 



2S6 I-IFE OF LINCOLN 

'^rnor Matteson's work. He has been secretly a candidate 
ever since (before, even) the fall election. All the members 
round about the canal were Anti-Nebraska, but were never- 
theless nearly all Democrats and old personal friends of his. 
His plan was to privately impress them with the belief that 
he was as good Anti-Nebraska as any one else — at least 
could be secured to be so bv instructions, which could be 
easily passed. 

" The Nebraska men, of course, were not for Matteson; 
but when they fomid they could elect no axowcd Nebraska 
man, they tardily determined to let him get whomever of oiu* 
men he could, by whatever means he could, and ask liim no 

questions 

The Nebraska men were very confident of the election of 
Matteson, though denying that he was a candidate, and we 
very much believing also that they would elect him. But 
they wanted first to make a show of good faith to Shields 
by voting for him a few times, and our secret Matteson men 
also wanted to make a show of good faith by voting with us 
a few times. So we led ofif. On the seventh ballot, I think, 
the signal was given to the Nebraska men to turn to Matte- 
son, which they acted on to a man, with one exception. . 
Next ballot the remaining Nebraska man and one pretended 
Anti went over to him, giving him 46. The next still an- 
other, giving him 47, wanting only three of an election. In 
the meantime our friends, with a view of detaining our ex- 
pected bolters, had been turning from me to Trumbull till he 
had risen to 35 and I had been reduced to 15. These would 
never desert me excejit by my direction; but T became satis- 
fied that if we could prevent Matteson's election one or 
two ballots more, we could not possibly do so a single ballot 
after my friends should 'begin to return to me from Trum- 
bull. So I determined to strike at once, and accordingly ad- 
vised my remaining friends to go for him, which they did 
and elected him on the tenth ballot. 

" Such is the wav the thinsf was done. T think you would 

nave done the same under the circumstances 

I could have headed off every combination and been elected, 
had it not been for Matteson's double game — and his defeat 
now gives me more pleasure than my own gives me oain. 



RE-ENTERS POLITICS . 287 

On the whole, it is perhaps as well for our general cause that 
Trumbull is elected. The Nebraska men confess that they 
hate it worse than anything that could have happened. It 
is a great consolation to see them worse whipped than I 



am." 



Not only had Lincoln made the leading orator of the 
Nebraska cause cry enough, he had by his quick wit and his 
devotion to the cause secured an Anti-Nebraska Senator for 
the State. 

Although for the time being campaigning was over, Lin- 
coln by no means dropped the subject. The struggle between 
North and South over the settlement of Kansas grew e\'ery 
day more bitter. Violence was beginning, and it was evident 
that if the people of the new territory should vote to make 
the State free it would be impossible to enforce the decision 
without bloodshed. Lincoln watched the developments with 
a growing determination never to submit to the repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise. He would advocate its restoration 
so long as Kansas remained a territory, and if it ever sought 
to enter the Union as a slave State he would oppose it. He 
discussed the subject incessantly with his friends as he travel- 
led the circuit; and wrestled with it day and nig'ht in soli- 
tude. A new conviction was gradually growing upon him. 
He had long held that slavery was wrong but that it could 
not be touched in the State where it was recognized by the 
Constitution; all that the free States could recpiire, in his 
judgment, was that no new territory should be opened to 
slavery. He held that all compromises adjusting diificulties 
between the North and South on the slavery question were as 
sacred as the Constitution. Now he saw the most important 
of them all violated. Was it possible to devise a compromise 
which would settle forever the conflicting interests? He 
turned over the question continually. Judge T. Lyle Dickey 
of Illinois once told the Hon. William Pitt Kellogg that 



\ • 



288 ^^^^^ <-^^' LINCOLN 

when the excitement over the Kansas-Nebraska bill first 
broke out, he was with Lincoln and several friends at- 
tending court. One evening several persons, including him- 
self and Lincoln, were discussing the slavery question. Judge 
Dickey contended that slavery was an institution, which the 
Constitution recognized, and which could not be disturbed. 
Lincoln argued that ultimately slavery must become extinct. 
" After a while," said Judge Dickey, " we went upstairs to 
bed. There were two beds in our room, and I remember that 
Lincoln sat up in his night shirt on the edge of the bed 
arguing the point with me. At last, we went to sleep. Early 
in the morning I woke up and there was Lincoln half sitting 
up in bed. ' Dickey,' he said, ' I tell you this nation 
cannot exist half slave and half free. ' Oh, Lincoln,' said 
I, ' go to sleep.' " 

As the months went on this idea took deeper root, and 
in August, 1855, we find it expressed in a letter to George 
Robertson of Kentucky : " Our political problem now iSj, 
' Can we as a nation continue together permanently — for- 
ever — half slave and half free? ' The problem is too mighty 
for me — may God, in his mercy, superintend the solution." 

Not only was he beginning to see that the Union could 
not exist " divided against itself," he was beginning to see 
that in order to fight effectively against the repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise and the admission of Kansas as a 
slave State, he mig'ht be obliged to abandon the Whigs. All 
his life he had been a loyal Henry Clay Whig, ardent in his 
devotion to the party, sincerely attached to its principles. 
His friends were of that party, and never had a man's party 
friends been more willing than his to aid his ambition. But 
the Whigs were afraid of the Anti-Nebraska agitation. Was 
he being forced from his party? He hardly knew. "I 
think I am a Whig," he wrote his friend Si)eed, who had 
inquired where he stood, " but others say there are no 



RE-ENTERS POLITICS 289 

Whigs and that I am an Abolitionist." This was in August, 
1855. The events of the next few months showed him that 
he must stand by the body of men of all parties — Whig, 
Democratic, Abolition, Free Soil — who opposed the repeal 
of the Missouri Compromise, and were slowly uniting into 
the new Republican party to fight it. 

The first decisive step to organize these elements in Illi- 
nois was an editorial convention held on February 22, 1856, 
at Decatur. One of the editors interested, Paul Selby, re- 
lates the history of the convention in an unpublished manu- 
script on the " Formation of the Republican Party in Illi- 
nois," from which the following account is quoted : 

" This movement, first suggested by ' The Morgan Jour- 
nal ' at Jacksonville, having received the approval of a con- 
siderable number of the Anti-Nebraska papers of the State, 
resulted in the issue of the following call: 

"' Editorial Convention. — All editors in Illinois opposed 
to the Nebraska bill are requested to meet in Convention at 
Decatur, Illinois, on the 22d of February next, for the pur- 
pose of making arrangements for organizing the Anti-Ne- 
braska forces in this State for the coming contest. All edi- 
tors favoring tbe movement will please forward a copy of 
their paper containing their approval to the office of the 
Illinois ' State Chronicle.' Decatur. 

" Twenty-five papers indorsed the call, but on the day of 
the meeting only about half that number of editors put in 
an appearance. One reason for the small number was the 
fact that, on the night before a heavy snow-storm had fallen 
throughout the State, obstructing the passage of trains on 
the two railroads centering at Decatur. The meeting was 
held in the parlor of the ' Cassell House ' — afterwards the 
' Oglesby House,' now called the ' St. Nicholas Hotel' 
Those present and participating in the opening proceedings, 
as shown by the official report, were: E. C. Dougherty, 
'Register,' Rockford; Charles Faxon, ' Post.' Princeton; A. 
N. Ford, * Gazette,' Lacon : Thomas J. Pickett, * Republi- 
can,' Peoria; Virgil Y. Ralston, ' Whig,' Quincy; Charles 



2QO l^irii UF LIWCOLJM 

H. Ray, 'Tribune,' Chicago; George Schneider, ' Staats 
Zeitung,' Chicago; Paul Selby, ' Journal,' Jacksonville; B. 
F. Shaw, ' Telegraph,' Dixon; W. J. Usrey, ' Chronicle,' 
Decatur, and O. P. Wharton, ' iVdvertiser,' Rock Island. In 
the organization Paul Selby was made Chairman and W. J. 
Usrey, Secretary, while Messrs. Ralston, Ray, Wharton, 
Dougherty, Prickett and Schneider constituted a Committee 
on Resolutions. The platform adopted as ' a basis of com- 
mon and concerted action ' among the members of the 
new organization, embraced a declaration of principles that 
would be regarded in this day as most conservative Repub- 
licanism, recognizing ' The legal rights of the slave States 
to hold and enjoy their property in slaves under their State 
laws; ' reaffirming the principles of the Declaration of In- 
dependence, with its correlative doctrine that ' Freedom is 
national and slavery sectional;' declaring assumption of the 
right to extend slavery on the plea that it is essential to the 
security of the institution ' an invasion of our rights ' which 
' must be resisted;' demanding the restoration of the Mis- 
souri Compromise and * the restriction of slavery to its 
present authorized limits;' advocating the maintenance of 
* the naturalization laws as they are ' and favoring ' the 
widest tolerance in matters of religion and faith ' (a rebuke 
to Know-Nothingism) ; pledging resistance to assaults upon 
the common school system, and closing with a demand for 
reformation in the administration of the State Government 
as ' second only in importance to the question of sla\cry 
itself.' Mr. L incoln was present in Decatur during the day, 
and, although he did not take part in the public deliberations 
of the convention, he was in close conference with the Com- 
mittee on Resolutions, and the impress of his hand is seen in 
the character of the platform adopted. Messrs. Ray and 
Schneider, of the Chicago press, were also intluential fac- 
tors in shaping the declaration of principles with which the 
new party in Illinois started on its long career of almost un- 
interrupted success. 

" The day's proceedings ended with a complimentary ban- 
quet given to the editors at the same hotel by the citizens 
of Decatur. Speeches were made in response to toasts by 
Mr. Lincoln, R. J. Oglesby (afterwards Major-General of 



RE-ENTERS POLITICS 291 

Volunteers and three times Governor of Illinois — then a 
young lawyer of Decatur), Ray of the Chicago ' Tribune/ 
Ralston of the Quincy 'Whig' and others among the editors. 
In the course of his speech, referring to a movement which 
some of the editors present had inaugurated to make him 
the Anti-Nebraska candidate for Governor at the ensuing 
election, Mr. Lincoln spoke (in substance) as follows: *I 
wish to say why I should not be a candidate. If I should 
be chosen, the Democrats would say it was nothing more 
than an attempt to resurrect the dead body of the old Whig 
party. I would secure the vote of that party and no more, 
and our defeat will follow as a matter of course. But I 
can suggest a name that will secure not only the old Whig 
vote, but enough Anti-Nebraska Democrats to give us the 
victory. That man is Colonel William H. Bissell.' 

" Here Mr. Lincoln again displayed his characteristic un- 
selfishness and sagacity. That he would, at that time, have 
regarded an election to the Governorship of the great State 
of Illinois as an honor not worth contending for, will scarcely 
be presumed. He was seeking more important results, how- 
ever, in the interest of freedom and good government — the 
ending of the political chaos that had prevailed for the past 
two years and the consolidation of the forces opposed to 
slavery extension in a compact political organization. Bis- 
sell had been an officer in the Mexican War with a good 
record; had afterwards, as a member of Congress from the 
Belleville District, opposed the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and 
had refused to be brow-beaten by Jefferson Davis into the 
retraction of statements he had made on the floor of Con- 
gress. As will appear later, he was nominated and Lincoln's 
judgment vindicated by his election and the unification of 
the elements w'hich afterwards composed the Republican 
party. 

" One of the last acts of the editorial convention was the 
appointment of a State Central Committee, consisting of 
one member for each Congressional District and two for 
the State at large. Some of the names were suggested by 
Mr. Lincoln, while the others received his ap])r(^\'al. . . . 
A supplementary resolution recommende'd the hokling of a 
State Convention at Bloomington, on the 29th of May fol- 



292 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

lowing, and requested the committee just appointed to issue 
the necessary call 

" It is a coincidence of some interest that, on the day the 
Illinois editors were in session at Decatur a convention of 
representatives from different States, with a similar ohject 
in view for the country at large, was in session at Pittsburg, 
Pa. The latter was presided over by the venerable Francis 
P. Blair, of Maryland, while among its most prominent 
members appear such names as those of Governor E. D. 
Morgan of New York, Horace Greeley, Preston King, 
David Wilmot, Oliver P. Morton, Joshua R. Giddings, 
Zachariah Chandler and many others of national reputation. 
A National Committee there appointed called the first Na- 
tional Convention of the Republican party, held at Phila- 
delphia on the 17th of June." 

In the interval between the Decatur meeting and the 
Bloomington Convention called for May 29, the excitement 
in the county over Kansas grew almost to a frenzy. The 
new State was in the hands of a pro-slavery mob, her Gov- 
ernor a prisoner, her capital in ruins, her voters intimidated. 
The newspapers were full of accounts of the attack on Sum- 
ner in the United States Senate by Brooks. One of the 
very men who had been expected to be 1 leader in the 
Bloomington Convention, Paul Selby, was lying at home 
prostrated by a cowardly blow from a political opponent. 
Little wonder then that when the Convention met its mem- 
bers were resolved to take radical action. The convention 
was opened with John M. Palmer, afterwards United States 
Senator, in its chair, and in a very short time it had adopted 
a platform, appointed delegates to the National Convention, 
nominated a State ticket, completed, in short, all the work 
of organizing the Republican Party in Illinois. After this 
work of organizing and nominating was finished, there was 
a call for speeches. The convention felt the need of some 
powerful amalgamating force which would weld its dis- 



RE-ENTERS POLITICS 293 

cordant elements. In spite of the best intentions of the mem- 
bers, their most manful efforts, they knew in their hearts that 
they were still political enemies, that the Whig was still a 
Whig, the Democrat a Democrat, the Abolitionist an Aboli- 
tionist. Man after man was called to the platform and spoke 
without producing any marked effect, when suddenly there 
was a call raised of a name not on the program — " Lin- 
coln " — " Lincoln " — " give us Lincoln ! " The crowd took 
it up and made the hall ring until a tall figure rose in the 
back of the audience and slowly strode down the aisle. As 
he turned to his audience there came gradually a great 
change upon his face. " There was an expression of in- 
tense emotion," Judge Scott, of Bloomington, once told the 
author. " It was the emotion of a great soul. Even in 
stature he seemed greater. He seemed to realize it was a 
crisis in his life." 

Lincoln, in fact, had come to the parting of the ways in 
his political life, to the moment when he must publicly break 
with his party. For two years he had tried to fight slavery 
extension under the name of a Whig. He had found it 
could not be done, and now in spite of the eft'orts of his 
conservative friends who had vainly tried to keep him away 
from the Bloomington Convention, he was facing that con- 
vention, was openly acknowledging that henceforth he 
worked with the Republican Party. 

Lincoln's extraordinary human insight and sympathy told 
him as he looked at his audience that what this body of 
splendid, earnest, but groping men needed was to feel that 
they had undertaken a cause of such transcendent value that 
beside it all previous alliances, ambitions and duties were as 
nothing. If he could make them see the triviality of their 
differences as compared with the tremendous principle of the 
new party, he was certain they would go forth Republicans 
m spirit as well as in name. 



294 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

He began his speech, then, deeply moved, and with a pro- 
found sense of the importance of the moment. At first 
he spoke slowly and haltingly, but gradually he grew in force 
and intensity until his hearers arose from their chairs and 
with pale faces and quivering lips pressed unconsciously to- 
wards him. Starting from the back of the broad platform 
on which he stood, his hands on his hips, he slowly advanced 
towards the front, his eyes blazing, his face white with pas- 
sion, his voice resonant with the force of 'his conviction. 
As he advanced he seemed to his audience fairly to grow, 
and when at the end of a period he stood at the front line of 
the stage, hands still on the hips, head back, raised on his 
tip toes, he seemed like a giant inspired. " At that moment 
he was the handsomest man I ever saw," Judge Scott de- 
clared. 

So powerful was his effect on his audience that men and 
women wept as they cheered and children there that night 
still remember the scene, though at the time they understood 
nothing of its meaning. As he went on there came upon 
the convention the very emotion lie sought to arouse. 
" Every one in that before incongruous assembly came to 
feel as one man, to think as one man and to purpose and re- 
solve as one man," says one of his auditors. He 'had made 
every man of them pure Republican. He did something 
more. The indignation which the outrages in Kansas and 
throug'hout the country had aroused was uncontrolled. Men 
talked passionately of war. It was at this meeting that Lin- 
coln, after firing his bearers by an expression which became 
a watchword of the campaign, " We won't go out of the 
Union and you shan't," poured oil on the wrath of the Illi- 
nois opponents of the Nebraska bill by advising " ballots, not 
bullets." 

Nothing illustrates better the extraordinary power of 
Lincoln's speech at Bloomington than the way he stirred up 



RE-ENTERS POLITICS 295 

the newsjraper reporters. It was before the stenographer 
liacl become accHmated in IlHnois, thoug'h long-hand re- 
ports were regularly taken. Of course, all the leading papers 
of the State leaning towards the new party, had reporters at 
the convention. Among these was Mr. Joseph Medill. 

" It was my journalistic duty," says Mr. Medill, " though 
a delegate to the convention, to make a ' long-hand ' report 
of the speeches delivered for the Chicago ' Tribune.' I did 
make a few paragraphs of what Lincoln said in the first eight 
or ten minutes, but I became so absorbed in his mag- 
netic oratory that I forgot myself and ceased to take notes; 
and joined with the convention in cheering and stamping 
and clapping to the end of his speech. 

" I well remember that after Lincoln sat down and calm 
had succeeded the tempest, I waked out of a sort of hypnotic 
trance, and then thought of my report for the ' Tribune.' 
There was nothing written but an abbreviated introduc- 
tion. 

" It was some sort of satisfaction to find that I had not 
been * scooped,' as all the newspaper men present had been 
equally carried away by the excitement caused by the won- 
derful oration and had made no report or sketch of the 
speech." 

* 

A number of Lincoln's friends, young lawyers, most of 
them, were accustomed to taking notes of speeches, and as 
usual sharpened their pencils as he began. " 1 attempted for 
about fifteen minutes," says Mr. Herndon, Lincoln's law 
partner, " as was usual with me then to take notes, but at 
the end of that time I threw pen and paper away and lived 
only in the inspiration of the hour." The result of this ex- 
citement was that when the convention was over there was 
no reporter present who had anything for his newspaper. 
They all went home and wrote burning editorials about the 
speech and its great principle, but as to reproducing it they 
could not. Men came to talk of it all over Illinois. They 



296 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

realized that it had been a purifying fire for the party, but 
as to what it contained no one could say. Gradually it be- 
came known as Lincoln's " lost speech." From the very 
mystery of it its reputation grew greater as time went on. 

But though the convention so nearly to a man lost its 
head, there was at least one auditor who liad enough control 
to pursue his usual habit of making notes of the speeches 
he heard. This was a young lawyer on the same circuit as 
Lincoln, Mr. H. C. Whitney. For some three weeks be- 
fore the convention Lincoln and Whitney had been attend- 
ing court at Danville. They had discussed the political 
situation in the State carefully, and to Whitney Lincoln had 
stated his convictions and determinations. In a way Whit- 
ney had absorbed Lincoln's speech beforehand, as indeed any 
one must have done who was with Lincoln when he was pre- 
paring an address, it being his habit to discuss points and to 
repeat them aloud indifferent to who heard him. Whitney 
had gone to the convention intending to make notes, know- 
ing, as he did, that Lincoln had not written out what he was 
going to say. Fortunately he had a cool enough head to 
keep to his purpose. He made his notes, and on returning 
to Judge Davis's home in Bloomington, where he, with Lin- 
coln and one or two others, were staying, he enlarged them 
w'hile the others discussed the speech. These notes Whitney 
kept for many years, always intending to write them out, 
but never attending to it until the author, in 1896, 
iearned that he had them and urged him to expand them. 
This Mr. Whitney did, and the speech was first published in 
" McClure's Magazine " for September, 1896. Mr. Whitney 
does not claim that he has made a full report. He does 
claim that the argument is correct and that in many cases the 
expressions are exact. A few quotations will show any 
one familiar with Lincoln's speeches that Mr. Whitney has 
caught much of their style, for instance, the following: 



RE-ENTERS POLITICS 297 



** We come — we are here assembled together — to protest 
as well as we can against a great wrong, and to take meas- 
ures, as well as we now can. to make that wrong right ; to 
place the nation, as far as it may "be possible now, as it was 
before the repeal of the Missouri Compromise; and the plain 
way to do this is to restore the Compromise, and to demand 
and determine that Kansas shall be free! While we affirm, 
and reaffirm, if necessary, our devotions to the principles of 
the Declaration of Independence, let our practical work here 
be limited to the above. We know that there is not a perfect 
agreement of sentiment here on the public questions which 
might be rightfully considered in this convention, and that 
the indignation which we all must feel cannot be helped; 
but all of us must give up something for the good of tlie 
cause. There is one desire which is uppermost in the mind, 
one wish common to us all — to which no dissent will be 
made; and I counsel you earnestly to bury all resentment, 
to sink all personal feeling, make all things work to a com- 
mon purpose in which we are united and agreed about, and 
which all present will agree is absolutely ncessary — which 
must be done by any rightful mode if there be such : Slavh'y 
must be kept out of Kansas! The test — the pinch — is right 
there. If we lose Kansas to freedom, an example will be 
set which will prove fatal to freedom in the end. We, there- 
fore, in the language of the Bible, must ' lay the axe to the 
root of the tree.' Temporizing will not do longer; now 
is the time for decision — for firm, persistent, resolute ac- 
tion. 



"We have made a good beginning here to-day. As our 
Methodist friends would say, ' I feel it is good to be here.' 
While extremists may find some fault with the moderation 
of our platform, they should remember that ' the battle is not 
always to the strong, nor the race to the swift.' In grave 
emergencies, moderation is generally safer than radicalism; 
and as this struggle is likely to be long and earnest, we must 
not, by our action, repel any who are in sympathy with us 
in the main, but rather win all that we can to our standard. 



298 LIFE OF LIMCULN 

We must not belittle nor overlook the facts of our condition 
— that we are new and comparatively weak, while our 
enemies are entrenched and relatively stronj^. They have the 
administration and the political power; and, right or wrong, 
at present they have the numbers. Our friends who urge an 
appeal to arms with so much force and eloquence, should 
recollect that the government is arrayed against us, and 
that the numbers are now arrayed against us as well; or, 
to state it nearer to the truth, they are not yet expressly 
and affirmatively for us; and we should repel friends rather 
than gain them by anything savoring of revolutionary 
methods. As it now stands, we must appeal to the sober 
sense and patriotism of the people. We will make converts 
day by day; we will grow strong by calmness and mode- 
ration; we will grow strong by the violence and injustice 
of our adversaries. And, unless truth be a mockery and 
justice a hollow lie, we will be in the majority after a while, 
and then the revolution which we will accomplish will be 
none the less radical from being the result of pacific meas- 
ures. The battle of freedom is to be fought out on principle. 
Slavery is a violation of the eternal right. We have tempo- 
rized with it from the necessities of our condition, but as 
sure as God reigns and school children read, that black 

FOUL LIE CAN NEVER BE CONSECRATED INTO God's HAL- 
LOWED TRUTH ! 



" I will not say that we may not sooner or later be com- 
pelled to meet force by force; but the tim.e has not yet come, 
and if we are true to ourselves, may never come. Do not 
mistake that the ballot is stronger than the bullet. There- 
fore, let the legions of slavery use bullets; but let us wait 
patiently till November, and fire ballots at them in return; 
and by that peaceful policy, I believe we shall ultimately 

win, 

• ••••••• 

" Did you ever, my friends, seriously reflect upon the 
speed with which we are tending downwards? Within 
the memory of men now present the leading statesmen of 
Virginia could make genuine, red-hot abolitionist speeche 



RE-ENTERvS POLITICS 299 

in old Virginia; and, as I have said, now even in ' free 
Kansas ' it is a crime to declare that it is ' free Kansas.' 
The very sentiments that I and others have just uttered, 
would entitle us, and each of us, to the ignominy and se- 
clusion of a dungeon; and yet I suppose that, like Paul, we 
were ' free born.' But if this thing is allowed to continue, 
it will be but one step further to impress the same rule in 
Illinois. 
"The conclusion of all is, that we must restore the Mis- 
souri Compromise. We must highly resolve that Kansas 
must be free! We must reinstate the birthday promise of 
the Republic; we must reaffirm the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence; we must make good in essence as well as in form 
Madison's avowal that 'the word slaz'c ought not to ap- 
pear in the Constitution ; ' and we must e /en go further, 
and decree that only local law, and not that time-honored 
instrument, shall shelter a slave-holder. We must make this 
a land of liberty in fact, as it is in name. But in seeking to 
attain these results — so indispensable if the liberty which 
is our pride and boast shall endure — we will be loyal to the 
Constitution and to the ' flag of our Union,' and no matter 
what our grievance — even though Kansas shall come in as 
a slave State; and no matter what theirs — even if we shall 
restore the Compromise — We will say to the Southern 
DisuNiONisTs, We won't go out of the Union,, and 
YOU SHAN'T! ! ! 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 



(( 



The greatest speech ever made in Illinois, and it puts 
Lincoln on the track for the Presidency," was the comment 
made by enthusiastic Republicans on Lincoln's speech be- 
fore the Bloomington Convention. Conscious that it was 
ht- who had put the breath of life into their organization, 
the party instinctively turned to him as its leader. The 
effect of this local recognition wa? at once perceptible in 
the national organization. Less than three weeks after the 
delivery of the Bloomington speech, the national conven- 
tion of the Republican party met in Philadelphia June 
17, to nominate candidates for the presidency and vice- 
presidency. Lincoln's name was the second proposed for 
the latter office, and on the first ballot he received one hun- 
dred and ten votes. The news reached him at Urbana, 111., 
where he was attending court, one of his companions read- 
ing from a daily paper just received from Chicago, the 
result of the ballot. The simple name Lincoln was given, 
without the name of the man's State. Lincoln said indif- 
ferently that he did not suppose it could be himself; and 
added that there was " another great man " of the name, 
a man from Massachusetts. The next day, however, he 
knew that it was himself to whom the convention had giver 
so strong an endorsement. He knew also that the ticket 
chosen was Fremont and Dayton. 

The campaign of the following summer and fall was one 
of intense activity for Lincoln. In Illinois and the neigh- 
boring States he made over fifty speeches, only fragments 

300 



THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 301 

of which have been preserved. One of the first important 
ones was dehvered on July 4, 1856, at a great mass meet- 
ing at Princeton, the home of the Lovejoys and the Bry- 
ants. The people were still irritated by the outrages in 
Kansas and by the attack on Sumner in the Senate, and 
the temptation to deliver a stirring and indignant oration 
must have been strong. Lincoln's speech w^as, however, a 
fine example of political wisdom, an historical argument ad- 
mirably calculated to convince his auditors that the}'' were 
right in their opposition to slavery extension, but so con- 
trolled and sane that it would stir no impulsive radical to 
violence. There probably was not uttered in the United 
States on that critical 4th of July, 1856, when the very 
foundation of the government was in dispute and the day 
itself seemed a mockery, a cooler, more logical speech than 
this by the man who, a month before, had driven a con- 
vention so nearly mad that the very reporters had forgotten 
to make notes. And the temper of this Princeton speech 
Lincoln kept throughout the campaign. 

In spite of the valiant struggle of the Republicans, Bu- 
chanan was elected; but Lincoln was in no way discour- 
aged. The Republicans had polled 1,341,264 votes in the 
country. In Illinois, they had given Fremont nearly 100,- 
000 votes, and they had elected their candidate for gov- 
ernor. General Bissell. Lincoln turned from argument' 
to encouragement and good counsel. 

" All of us," he said at a Republican banquet in Chicago, 
a few weeks after the election, " who did not vote for Mr. 
Buchanan, taken together, are a majority of four hundred 
thousand. But in the late contest we were divided between 
Fremont and Fillmore. Can we not come together for 
the future? Let every one who really believes and is re- 
solved that free society is not and shall not be a failure, 
and who can conscientiously declare that in the last con- 



X02 LIFE OF LINCOLN 



o 



test he has done only what he thought best — let every such 
one have charity to believe that every other one can say as 
much. Thus let bygones be bygones; let past differences 
as nothing be; and with steady eye on the real issue let us 
reinaugurate the good old ' central idea ' of the republic. 
We can do it. The human heart is with us; God is with 
us. We shall again be able, not to declare that ' all States 
as States are e(iual,' nor yet that ' all citizens as citizens are 
equal/ but to renew the broader, l^etter declaration, includ- 
ing both these and much more, that ' all men are created 
eciual.' " 

The spring of 1857 gave Lincoln a new line of argu- 
ment. Buchanan was scarcely in the Presidential chair 
before the Supreme Court, in the decision of the Dred 
Scott case, declared that a negro could not sue in the United 
States courts and that Congress could not prohibit slavery 
in the Territories. This decision was such an evident ad- 
vance of the slave power that there was a violent uproar in 
the North. Douglas went at once to Illinois to calm his con- 
stituents. " What," he cried, " oppose the Supreme Court! 
Is it not sacred? To resist it is anarchy.". 

Lincoln met liim fairly on the Issue in a speech at Spring- 
field in June, 1857. 

" We believe as much as Judge Douglas (perhaps more) 
in obedience to and respect for the judicial department of 
government. . . . But we think the Dred Scott decision 
is erroneous. Wc know the court that made it has often 
overruled its own decisions, and we shall do what we can to 
have it overrule this. We offer no resistance to it. . . . 
If this important decision had been made by the unani- 
mous concurrence of the judges, and without any ap- 
parent partisan bias, and in accordance with legal pub- 
lic expectation and with the steady practice of the de- 
partments throughout our history, and had been in no 
part based on assumed historical facts which are not really 
true; or if, wanting in some of these, it had been before 



THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 303 

the court more than once, and had there been affirmed and 
reaffirmed through a course of years, it then miglit be, per- 
haps would be, factious, nay, even revokitionary, not to 
acquiesce in it as a precedent. But when, as is true, we 
find it wanting in all these claims to the public confidence, it 
is not resistance, it is not factious, it is not even disrespect- 
ful, to treat it as not having yet quite established a settled 
doctrine for the country." 

Let Douglas cry " awful," " anarchy," " revolution," as 
much as he would, Lincoln's arguments against the Dred 
Scott decision appealed to common sense and won him 
commendation all over the country. Even the radical lead- 
ers of the party in the East — Seward, Sumner, Theodore 
Parker — began to notice him, to read his speeches, to con- 
sider his arguments. 

With every month of 1857 Lincoln grew stronger, and 
his election in Illinois as United States senatorial candidate 
in 1858 against Douglas would have been insured if Douglas 
had not suddenly broken with Buchanan and his party in 
a way which won him the hearty sympathy and respect of 
a large part of the Republicans of the North. By a fla- 
grantly unfair vote the pro-slavery leaders of Kansas had 
secured the adoption of the Lecompton Constitution allow- 
ing slavery in the State. President Buchanan urged Con- 
gress to admit Kansas with her bogus Constitution. Doug- 
las, who would not sanction so base an injustice, opposed 
the measure, voting with the Republicans steadily against 
the admission. The Buchananists, outraged at what they 
called " Douglas's apostasy," broke with him. Then it 
was that a part of the Republican party, notably Horace 
Greeley at the head of the New York " Tribune," struck 
by the boldness and nobility of Douglas's opposition, began 
to hope to win him over from the Democrats to the Repub- 
licans. Their first step was to counsel the leaders of their 



304 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

party in Illinois to put up lio candidate against Douglas for 
the United States senatorship in 1858. 

Lincoln saw this change on the part of the Republican 
leaders with dismay. " Greeley is not doing me right," he 
said. " . . . I am a true Republican, and have been 
tried already in the hottest part of the anti-slavery fight; and 
yet I find him taking up Douglas, a veritable dodger, — once 
a tool of the South, now its enemy, — and pushing him to 
the front." He grew so restless over the returning popu- 
larity of Douglas among the Republicans that Herndon, his 
law-partner, determined to go East to find out the real feel- 
ing of the Eastern leaders towards Lincoln. Herndon had, 
for a long time, been in correspondence with the leading 
abolitionists and had no difficulty in getting interviews. 
The returns he brought back from his canvass were not 
altogether reassuring. Seward, Sumner, Phillips, Garrison, 
Beecher, Theodore Parker, all spoke favorably of Lincoln, 
and Seward sent him word that the Republicans would 
never take up so slippery a quantity as Douglas had proved 
himself. But Greeley — the all-important Greeley — was 
lukewarm. " The Republican standard is too high," he 
told Herndon. " We want something practical. 
Douglas is a brave man. Forget the past and sustain the 
righteous." "Good God, righteous, eh!" groaned Hern- 
don in his letter to Lincoln. 

But though the encouragement which came to Lincoln 
from the East in the spring of 1858 was meagre, that which 
came from Illinois was abundant. There the Republicans 
supported him in whole-hearted devotion. In June, the 
State convention, meeting in Springfield to nominate its 
candidate for Senator, declared that Abraham Lincoln was its 
first and only choice as the successor of Stephen A. Douglas. 
The press was jubilant. " L'^nanimity is a weak word," 
wrote the editor of the Bloomington " Pantagraph," " to 




•^JBSi. s-S , ^4^\, ; ...^iJMia i' '.lillil 



THE LINCOLN AMD DOUGLAS MEETING AT GALESBURG, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 7, 1 858 



7 Ts^s TV, ? tf^'^^T^" ^'""S^V' '?"^ Douglas was held at. Gale«I.MrK, Illinois, on October 
studP,^t's iJlt Pl^ltiorm from which they spoke was erected at the end of Knox College The 
s udents took a lively interest in the contest, decorating the college gavlv with flaes ^nH 

buridfnt''- I^r"'^'"*";^-'' ^^T '^' ^^^^'^'-^ "^ ^^e speakers, extending am>.s tie erfd^f 'l.he 
building, was placed a large banner bearing the words : "Knox College for Lincoln '• 



rHE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 305 

express the universal and intense feeling of the convention. 
Lincoln! Lincoln!! LINCOLN!!! was the cry every- 
where, whenever the senatorship was alkided to. Delegates 
from Chicago and from Cairo, from the Wabash and tlic 
r.linois, from the north, the center, and the south, were alike 
fierce with enthusiasm, whenever that loved name was 
breathed. Enemies at home and misjudging friends abroad, 
who have looked for dissension among us on the question of 
the senatorship, will please take notice that our nomination is 
a unanimous oLe; and that, in the event of a Republican 
majority in the next Legislature, no other name than Lin- 
coln's will be mentioned, or thought of, by a solitary Repub- 
lican legislator. One little incident in the convention was a 
pleasing illustration of the universality of the Lincoln senti- 
ment. Cook county had brought a banner into the assem- 
blage inscribed, ' Cook County for Abraham Lincoln.' Dur- 
ing a pause in the proceedings, a delegate from another 
county rose and proposed, with the consent of the Cook 
county delegation, ' to amend the banner by substituting for 
" Cook County " the word which I hold in my hand,' at the 
same time unrolling a scroll, and revealing the word ' Ill- 
inois ' in huge capitals. The Cook delegation promptly 
accepted the amendment, and amidst a perfect hurricane of 
hurrahs, the banner was duly altered to express the sentiment 
of the whole Republican party of the State, thus: ' Illinois 
for Abraham Lincoln.' " 

On the evening of the day of his nomination, Lincoln ad- 
dressed his constituents. The first paragraph of his speech 
gave the key to the campaign he proposed. "A house divided 
against itself cannot stand. I believe this government can- 
not endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not 
expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be 
divided. It will become all one thing or all the other." 

Then followed the famous charge of conspiracy against 



3o6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

the slavery advocates, the charge that Pierce, Buchanan, 
Chief Justice Taney, and Douglas had been making a con- 
certed effort to legalize the institution of slavery " in all the 
States, old as well as new. North as well as South." He 
marshalled one after another of the measures that the pro- 
slavery leaders had secured in the past four years, and 
clinched the argument by one of his inimitable illustrations : 

" When we see a lot of framed timbers, different portions 
of which we know have been gotten out at different times 
and places and by different workmen, — Stephen, Franklin, 
Roger and James,* for instance, — and we see these timbers 
joined together, and see they exactly make the frame of a 
house or a mill, all the tenons and mortises exactly fitting, 
and all the lengths and proportions of the different pieces 
exactly adapted to their respective places, and not a piece too 
many or too few, not omitting even scaffolding — or, if a 
single piece be lacking, we see the place in the frame exactly 
fitted and prepared yet to bring such a piece in — in such a 
case we find it impossible not to believe that Stephen and 
Franklin and Roger and James all understood one another 
from the beginning, and all worked upon a common plan or 
draft, drawn up before the first blow was struck." 

The speech was severely criticised by Lincoln's friends. 
It was too radical. It was sectional. He heard the com- 
plaints unmoved. " If I had to draw a pen across my 
record," he said, one day, " and erase my whole life from 
sight, and I had one poor gift or choice left as to what I 
should save from the wreck, I should choose that speech and 
leave it to the world unerased." 

The speech was, in fact, one of great political adroitness. 
It forced Douglas to do exactly what he did not want to do 
in Illinois: explain his own record during the past four 
years; explain the true meaning of the Kansas-Nebraska 

* Stephen A Douglas, Frankli7t Pierce, Roger Taney, Jamei 
Buchanan. 



THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 307 

bill ; discuss the Dred Scott decision ; say whether or not he 
thought slavery so good a thing that the country could afford 
to extend it instead of confining it where it would he in 
course of gradual extinction. Douglas wanted the Republi- 
cans of Illinois to follow Greeley's advice: "Forgive the 
past." He wanted to make the most among them of his 
really noble revolt against the attempt of his party to fasten 
an unjust constitution on Kansas. Lincoln would not allow 
him to bask for an instant in the sun of that revolt. He 
crowded him step by step through his party's record, and 
compelled him to face what he called the " profound central 
truth " of the Republican party, " slavery is wrong and 
ought to be dealt with as wrong." 

But it was at once evident that Douglas did not mean to 
meet the issue squarely. He called the doctrine of Lincoln's 
" house-divided-against-itself " speech "sectionalism;" his 
charge of conspiracy " false ; " his talk of the wrong of slav- 
ery extension " abolitionism." This went on for a month. 
Then Lincoln resolved to force Douglas to meet his argu- 
ments, and challenged him to a series of joint debates. Doug- 
las was not pleased. His reply to the challenge was irritable, 
even slightly insolent. To those of his friends who talked 
with him privately of the contest, he said: " I do not feel, 
between you and me, that I want to go into this debate. The 
whole country knows me, and has me measured. Lincoln, 
as regards myself, is comparatively unknown, and if he gets 
the best of this debate, — and I want to say he is the ablest 
man the Republicans have got, — I shall lose everything and 
Lincoln will gain everything. Should I win, I shall gain 
but little. I do not want to go into a debate with Abe." 
Publicly, however, he carried off the prospect confidently, 
even jauntily. " Mr. Lincoln," he said patronizingly, " is a 
kind, amiable, intelligent gentleman." In the mean time his 
constituents boasted loudly of the fine spectacle they werf 



T,o8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

going to give the State — " the Little Giant chawing up Old 
Abe!" 

Many of Lincoln's friends looked forward to the encounter 
with foreboding. Often, in spite of their best intentions, 
they showed anxiety. " Shortly before the first debate came 
off at Ottawa," says Judge H. W. Beckwith of Danville, 111. 
*' 1 passed the Chenery House, then the principal hotel in 
Springfield. The lobby was crowded with partisan leaders 
from various sections of the State, and Mr. Lincoln, from 
his greater height, was seen above the surging mass that 
clung about him like a swarm of bees to their ruler. He 
looked careworn,, but he met the crowd patiently and kindly, 
shaking hands, answering questions, and receiving assur- 
ances of support. The day was warm, and at the first 
chance he broke away and came out for a little fresh air, 
wiping the sweat from his face. 

"As he passed the door he saw me, and, taking my hand, 
inquired for the health and views of his * friends over in 
Vermilion county.' He was assured they were wide awake, 
and further told that they looked forward to the debate 
between him and Senator Douglas with deep concern. From 
the shadow that went quickly over hi* face, the pained look 
that came to give quickly way to a blaze of eyes and quiver 
of lips, I felt that Mr. Lincoln had gone beneath my mere 
words and caught my inner and current fears as to the result. 
And then, in a forgiving, jocular way peculiar to him, he 
said, ' Sit down ; I have a moment to spare and will tell you 
a story.' Having been on his feet for some time, he sat on 
the end of the stone step leading into the hotel door, while I 
stood closely fronting him. 

" 'You have,' he continued, * seen two men about to fight? ' 

" * Yes, many times.' 

" ' Well, one of them l)rags about what he means to do. 
He jumps high in the air cracking his heels together, smites 



THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 309 

his fists, and wastes his breath trying to scare somebody. You 
see the other fellow, he says not a word,' — here Mr. Lincoln's 
voice and manner changed to great earnestness, and repeat- 
ing — ' you see the other man says not a word. His arms 
are at his side, his fists are closely doubled up, his head is 
drawn to the shoulder, and his teeth are set firm together. 
He is saving his wind for the fight, and as sure as it comes off 
he will win it, or die a-trying.' 

" He made no other comment, but arose, bade me good- 
by, and left me to apply the illustration." 

It was inevitable that Douglas's friends should be san- 
guine, Lincoln's doubtful. The contrast between the two 
candidates was almost pathetic. Senator Douglas was the 
most brilliant figure in the political life of the day. Winning 
in personality, fearless as an advocate, magnetic in eloquence, 
shrewd in political manoeuvring, he had every quality to 
captivate the public. His resources had never failed him. 
From his entrance into Illinois politics in 1834, he had been 
the recipient of every political honor his party had to bestow. 
For the past eleven years he had been a member of the United 
States Senate, where he had influenced all the important 
legislation of the day and met in debate every strong speaker 
of North and South. In 1852, and again in 1856, he had 
been a strongly supported, though unsuccessful, candidate 
for the Democratic presidential nomination. In 1858 he 
was put at or near the head of every list of possible presi- 
dential candidates made up for i860. 

How barren Lincoln's public career in comparison ! Three 
terms in the lower house of the State Assembly, one term in 
Congress, then a failure which drove him from public life. 
Now he returns as a bolter from his party, a leader in a new 
organization which the conservatives are denouncing as 
" visionary," " impractical," " revolutionary." 

No one recognized more clearly than Lincoln the differ- 



3IO LIFE OF LINCOLN 

ence between himself and his opponem. " With me," he 
said, sadly, in comparing the careers of himself and Douglas, 
" the race of ambition has been a failure — a flat failure. 
With him it has been one of splendid success." He warned 
his party at the outset that, with himself as a standard- 
bearer, the battle must be fought on principle alone, without 
any of the external aids which Douglas's brilliant career 
gave. " Senator Douglas is of world-wide renown," he 
said ; " All the anxious politicians of his party, or who have 
been of his party for years past, have been looking upon him 
as certainly, at no distant day, to be the President of the 
United States. They have seen in his round, jolly, fruitful 
face, post-offices, land-offices, marshalships, and cabinet ap- 
pointments, chargeships and foreign missions, bursting and 
sprouting out in wonderful exuberance, ready to be' laid hold 
of by their greedy hands. And as they have been gazing 
upon this attractive picture so long, they cannot, in the little 
distraction that has taken place in the party, bring themselves 
to give up the charming hope; but with greedier anxiety 
they rush about him, sustain him, and give him marches, tri- 
umphal entries, and receptions beyond what even in the days 
of his highest prosperity they could have brought about in 
his favor. On the contrary, nobody has ever expected me 
to be President. In my poor, lean, lank face, nobody has 
ever seen that any cabbages were sprouting out. These are 
disadvantages, all taken together, that the Republicans labor 
under. We have to fight this battle upon principle, and upon 
principle alone." 

If one will take a map of Illinois and locate the points of 
the Lincoln and Douglas debates held between August 21 and 
October 15, 1858, he will see that the whole State was trav- 
ersed in the contest. The first took place at Ottawa, about 
seventy-five miles southwest of Chicago, on August 21 ; the 
second at Freeport, near the Wisconsin boundary, on August 



THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 311 

2'j. The third was in the extreme southern part of the 
State, at Jonesboro, on September 15. Three days later the 
contestants met one hundred and fifty miles northeast of 
Jonesboro, at Charleston. The fifth, sixth, and seventh de- 
bates were held in the western part of the State; at Gales- 
burg, October 7; Ouincy, October 13; and Alton, Octo- 
ber 15. 

Constant exposure and fatigue were unavoidable in meet- 
ing these engagements. Both contestants spoke almost every 
day through the intervals between the joint debates; and as 
railroad communication in Illinois in 1858 was still very in- 
complete, they were often obliged to resort to horse, car- 
riage, or steamer to reach the desired points. Judge Douglas 
succeeded, however, in making this difficult journey some- 
thing of a triumphal procession. He was accompanied 
throughout the campaign by his wife — a beautiful and bril- 
liant woman — and by a number of distinguished Democrats. 
On the Illinois Central Railroad he had always a special car, 
sometimes a special train. Frequently he swept by Lincoln, 
side-tracked in an accommodation or freight train. " The 
gentleman in that car evidently smelt no royalty in our car- 
riage," laughed Lincoln one day, as he watched from the 
caboose of a laid-up freight train the decorated special of 
Douglas flying by. 

It was only when Lincoln left the railroad and crossed the 
prairie, to speak at some isolated town, that he went in state. 
The attentions he received were often very trying to him. 
He detested what he called " fizzlegigs and fireworks," and 
would squirm in disgust when his friends gave him a genuine 
prairie ovation. Usually, when he was going to a point 
distant from the railway, a " distinguished citizen " met him 
at the station nearest the place with a carriage. When they 
were come within two or three miles of the town, a long pro- 
cession with banners and band would appear winding across 



312 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

the prairie to meet the speaker. A speech of greeting was 
made, and then the ladies of the entertainment committee 
would present Lincoln with flowers, sometimes even winding 
a garland about his head and lank figure. His embarrass- 
ment at these attentions was thoroughly appreciated by his 
friends. At the Ottawa debate the enthusiasm of his support- 
ers was so great that they insisted on carrying him from the 
platform to the housewhere hewas to be entertained. Power- 
less to escape from the clutches of his admirers, he could only 
cry, " Don't, boys ; let me down ; come now, don't." But the 
" boys " persisted, and they tell to-day proudly of their ex- 
ploit and of the cordial hand-shake Lincoln, all embarrassed 
as he was, gave each of them when at last he was free. 

On arrival at the towns where the joint debates were held, 
Douglas was always met by a brass band and a salute of 
thirty-two guns (the Union was composed of thirty-two 
States in 1858), and was escorted to the hotel in the finest 
equipage to be had. Lincoln's supporters took delight in 
showing their contempt of Douglas's elegance by affecting a 
Republican simplicity, often carrying their candidate through 
the streets on a high and unadorned hay-rack drawn by farm 
horses. The scenes in the towns on the occasion of the de- 
bates were perhaps never equalled at any other of the hust- 
ings of this country. No distance seemed too great for the 
people to go ; no vehicle too slow or fatiguing. At Charles- 
ton there was a grea^ delegation of men, women, and children 
present which had come in a long procession from Indiana 
by farm wagons, afoot, on horseback, and in carriages. The 
crowds at three or four of the debates were for that day im- 
mense. There were estimated to be from eight thousand to 
fourteen thousand people at Ouincy, some six thousand at 
Alton, from ten thousand to fifteen thousand at Charleston, 
some twenty thousand at Ottawa. Many of those at Ottawa 
came the night before. " It was a matter of but a short 



THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 313 

time," says Mi. George Beatty of Ottawa, "until the lew 
hotels, the livery stables, and [)rivate houses were crowded, 
and there were no accommodations left. Then the cam- 
paigners spread out about the town, and camped m whatever 
spot was most convenient. They went along the bluff and 
on the bottom-lands, and that night the camp-fires, spread 
up and down the valley for a mile, made it look as if an army 
was gathered about us." 

When the crowd was massed at the place of the debate, the 
scene was one of the greatest hubbub and confusion. On the 
corners of the squares, and scattered around the outskirts 
of the crowd, were fakirs of every description, selling pain- 
killers and ague cures, watermelons and lemonade; jugglers 
and beggars plied their trades, and the brass bands of all. 
the four corners within twenty-five miles tooted and pounded 
at " Hail Columbia, Happy Land," or " Columbia, the Gem 
of the Ocean." 

Conspicuous in the processions at all the points was what 
Lincoln called the " Basket of Flowers," thirty-two young 
girls in a resplendent car, representing the Union. At 
Charleston, a thirty-third young woman rode behind the car, 
representing Kansas. She carried a banner inscribed: " I 
will be free;" a motto wdiich brought out from nearly all 
the newspaper reporters the comment that she was too fair 
to be long free. 

The mottoes at the different meetings epitomized the popu- 
lar conception of the issues and the candidates. Among the 
Lincoln sentiments were: 

Illinois born under the Ordinance of '87. 

Free Territories and Free Men, 

Free Pulpits and Free Preachers, 
Free Press and a Free Pen, 

Free Schools and Free Teachers. 



314 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

" Westward the star of empire takes its way; 
The girls link on to Lincoln, their mothers were for Clay.** 

Abe the Giant-Killer. 

Edgar County for the Tall Sucker. 

A Striking feature of the crowds was the number of women 
they included. The intehigent and hvely interest they took 
in the debates caused much comment. No doubt Mrs. Doug- 
las's presence had something to do with this. They were 
particularly active in receiving the speakers, and at Quincy, 
Lincoln, on being presented with what the local press de- 
scribed as a " beautiful and elegant bouquet," took pains to 
express his gratification at the part women everywhere took 
in the contest. 

While this helter-skelter outpouring of prairiedom had the 
appearance of being little more than a great jollification, a 
lawless country fair, in reality it was with the majority of 
the people a profoundly serious matter. With every discus- 
sion it became more vital. Indeed, in the first debate, which 
was opened and closed by Douglas,* the relation of the two 
speakers became dramatic. It was here that Douglas, hoping 
to fasten on Lincoln the stigma of " abolitionist," charged 
him with having undertaken to abolitionize the old Whig 
party, and having been in 1854 a subscriber to a radical 
platform proclaimed at Springfield. This platform Doug- 
las read. Lincoln, when he replied, could only say he was 
never at the convention — knew nothing of the resolutions; 
but the impression prevailed that he was cornered. The 
next issue of the Chicago " Press and Tribune " dispelled it. 
That paper had employed to report the debates the first short- 

* By the terms agreed ujron by Douglas an<l Lincoln for regulating 
the debates Douglas opened at Ottawa, Jonesboro. Galesburg, and Al- 
ton with an hour's speech; was followed by Lincoln witli a speech of 
one and a half hours, and closed with a half-hour speech. At the three 
remaining points, Freeport, Charleston, and Quincy, Lincoln opened 
and closed. 



THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 315 

hand reporter in Chicago, Mr. Robert L. Hitt — now a Mem- 
ber of Congress and the Chairman of the Committee on For- 
eign Affairs. Mr. Hitt, when Douglas began to read the 
resolutions, took an opportunity to rest, supposing he could 
get the original from the speaker. He took down only the 
first line of each resolution. He missed Douglas after the 
debate, but on reaching Chicago, where he wrote out his re- 
port, he sent an assistant to the files to find the platform 
adopted at the Springfield Convention. It was brought, b'lt 
when Mr. Hitt began to transcribe it he saw at once that it 
was widely different from the one Douglas had read. There 
was great excitement in the ofiice, and the staff, ardently 
Republican, went to work to discover where the resolutions 
had come from. It was found that they originated at a 
meeting of radical abolitionists with whom Lincoln had 
never been associated. 

The " Press and Tribune " announced the " forgery," as it 
was called in a caustic editorial, " The Little Dodger Cor- 
nered and Caught." Within a week even the remote school- 
districts of Illinois were discussing Douglas's action, and 
many of the most important papers of the nation had made 
it a subject of editorial comment. 

Almost without exception Douglas was condemned. No 
amount of explanation on his part helped him. " The par- 
ticularity of Douglas's charge," said the Louisville " Jour- 
nal," " precludes the idea that he was simply and innocently 
mistaken." Lovers of fair play were disgusted, and those of 
Douglas's own party who would have applauded a trick too 
clever to be discovered could not forgive him for one which 
had been found out. Greeley came out bitterly against him, 
and before long wrote to Lincoln and Herndon that Douglas 
was " like the man's boy who (he said) didn't weigh so 
much as he expected and he always knew he wouldn't." 

Douglas's error became a sharp-edged sword in Lincoln's 



J 



1 6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 



hand. Without directly referring to it, he called his hearers' 
attention to the forgery every time he quoted a document 
by his elaborate explanation that he believed, unless there 
was some mistake on the part of those with whom the matter 
originated and which he had been unable to detect, that this 
ivas correct. Once when Douglas brought forward a docu- 
ment, Lincoln blandly remarked that he could scarcely be 
blamed for doubting its genuineness since the introduction 
of the Springfield resolutions at Ottawa. 

It was in the second debate, at Freeport, that Lincoln made 
the boldest stroke of the contest. Soon after the Ottawa 
debate, in discussing his plan for the next encounter, with a 
number of his political friends, — Washburne, Cook, Judd, 
and others, — he told them he proposed to ask Douglas four 
.questions, which he read. One and all cried halt at the sec- 
ond question. Under no condition, they said, must he put it. 
If it were put, Douglas would answer it in such a way as to 
win the senatorship. The morning of the debate, while on 
the way to Freeport, Lincoln read the same questions to Mr. 
Joseph Medill. " I do not like this second question, Mr. 
Lincoln," said Mr. Medill. The two men argued to their 
journey's end, but Lincoln was still unconvinced. Even 
after he reached Freeport several Republican leaders came to 
him pleading, " Do not ask that question." He was obdu- 
rate; and he went on the platform with a higher head, a 
haughtier step than his friends had noted in him before. Lin- 
coln was going to ruin himself, the committee said despond- 
ently ; one would think he did not want the senatorship. 

The mooted (juestion ran in Lincoln's notes : " Can the 
people of a United States territory in any lawful way, against 
the wish of any citizen of the United States, exclude slav- 
crv from its limits prior to the formation of a State Consti- 
tution ? " Lincoln had seen the irreconcilableness of Doug- 
las's own measure of popular sovereignty, which declared 




LINCOLN IN 1858 AGE 49 

m photograph loaned by W. J. Franklin of Macomb, Illinois, and taken in 1866 from 
an ambrotype made in 1S58, at Macomb. 



THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 317 

that the people of a territory should be left to regulate their 
domestic concerns in their own way subject only to 
the Constitution, and the decision of the Supreme 
Court in the Dred Scott case that slaves, being property, 
could not under the Constitution be excluded from a 
territory. He knew that if Douglas said no to this question, 
his Illinois constituents would never return him to the Sen- 
ate. He believed that if he said yes, the people of the South 
would never vote for him for President of the United States. 
He was willing himself to lose the senatorship in order to 
defeat Douglas for the Presidency in i860. " I am after 
larger game; the battle of i860 is worth a hundred of this," 
he said confidently. 

The question was put, and Douglas answered it with rare 
artfulness. '' It matters not," he cried, " what way the Su- 
preme Court may hereafter decide as to the abstract question 
whether slavery may or may not go into a territory under 
the Constitution; the people have the lawful means to intro- 
duce it or exclude it as they please, for the reason that slav- 
ery cannot exist a day or an hour anywhere unless it is sup- 
ported by local police regulations. Those police regulations 
' can only be established by the local legislature, and if the 
people are opposed to slavery, they will elect representatives 
to that body who will, by unfriendly legislation, effectually 
prevent the introduction of it into their midst. If, on the 
contrary, they are for it, their legislation will favor its ex- 
tension." 

His Democratic constituents went wild over the clever way 
in which Douglas had escaped Lincoln's trap. He now prac- 
tically had his election. The Republicans shook their heads. 
Lincoln only was serene. He alone knew what he had done. 
The Freeport debate had no sooner reached the pro-slavery 
press than a storm of protest went up. Douglas had be- 
trayed the South. He had repudiated the Supreme Court 



o 



1 8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 



decision. He had declared that slavery could be kept out 
of the territories by other legislation than a State Constitu- 
tion. " The Freeport doctrine," or " the theory of unfriendly 
legislation," as it became known, spread month by month, 
and slovviy but surely made Douglas an impossible candi- 
date in the South. The force of the question was not real- 
ized in full by Lincoln's friends until the Democratic party 
met in Charleston, S. C, in i860, and the Southern dele- 
gates refused to support Douglas because of the answer he 
gave to Lincoln's question in the Freeport debate of 1858. 

" Do you recollect the argument w^e had on the way up 
to Freeport two years ago over the question I was going to 
ask Judge Douglas?" Lincoln asked Mr. Joseph Medill, 
wdien the latter went to Springfield a few days after the 
election of i860. 

" Yes," said Medill, " I recollect it very well." 

" Don't you think I was right now ? " 

" We were both right. The question hurt Douglas for the 
Presidency, but it lost you the senatorship," 

" Yes, and I have won the place he was playing for." 

From the beginning of the campaign Lincoln supple- 
mented the strength of his arguments by inexhaustible good- 
humor. Douglas, physically worn, harassed by the trend 
which Lincoln had given the discussions, irritated that his 
adroitness and eloquence could not so cover the fundamental 
truth of the Republican position but that it would up again, 
often grew angry, even abusive. Lincoln answered him with 
most effective raillery. At Llavana, where he spoke the day 
after Douglas, he said : 

" I am informed that my distinguished friend yester- 
day became a little excited — nervous, perhaps — and he said 
something about fighting, as though referring to a pugilistic 
encounter between him and myself. Did anybody in this 
audience hear him use such language? [Cries of "Yes."] 



THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 319 

I am informed further, that somebody in his audience, rath.er 
more excited and nervous than himself, took off his coat, 
and offered to take the job off Judge Douglas's hands, and 
fight Lincoln himself. Did anybody here witness that war- 
like proceeding? [Laughter and cries of " Yes."] Well, 
I merely desire to say that I shall fight neither Judge Doug- 
las nor his second. I shall not do this for two reasons. 
v/hich I will now explain. In the first place, a fight would 
prove nothing which is in issue in this contest. It might es- 
tablish that Judge Douglas is a more muscular man than 
myself, or it might demonstrate that I am a more nviiscular 
man than Judge Douglas. But this question is not referred 
to in the Cincinnati platform, n(^r in either of the Spring- 
field platforms. Neither result would prove him right nor 
me wrong; and so of the gentleman who volunteered to do 
this fighting for him. If my fighting Judge Douglas would 
not prove anything, it would certainly prove nothing for 
me to fight his bottle-holder. 

" My second rea.son for not having a personal encounter 
with the judge is. that I don't believe he w'ants it himself. 
He and I are about the best frien.ds in the w^orld, and when 
we get together he would no more think of fighting me than 
of fighting his wife. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, when 
the judge talked about fighting, he was not giving vent to 
any ill feeling of his own, but merely trying to excite — well, 
enthusiasm against me on the part of his audience. And as 
I find he was tolerably successful, we will call it quits." 

More difficult for Lincoln to take good-naturedly than 
threats and hard names was the irrelevant matters which 
Douglas dragged into the debates to turn attention from the 
vital arguments. Thus Douglas insisted repeatedly on taunt- 
ing Lincoln because his zealous friends had carried him off 
the platform at Ottawa. " Lincoln was so frightened by 
the questions put to him," said Douglas, "that he could 
not walk." He tried t(^ arouse the prejudice of the au- 
dience by absurd charges of abolitionism. Lincoln wanted 
to give negroes social equality; he wanted a negro wife; he 



320 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

was willing to allow Fred Douglass to make speeches foi 
him. Again he took up a good deal of Lincoln's time by 
forcing him to answer to a charge of refusing to vote sup- 
plies for the soldiers in the Mexican War. Lincoln denied 
and explained, until at last, at Charleston, he turned sud- 
denly to Douglas's supporters, dragging one of the strong- 
est of them — the Hon. O. B. Ficklin, with whom he had been 
in Congress in 1848 — to the platform. 

" I do not mean to do anything with Mr. Ficklin," he said, 
" except to present his face and tell you that he personally 
knows it to be a lie." And Mr. Ficklin had to acknowledge 
that Lincoln was right. 

" Judge Douglas," said Lincoln In speaking of this policy, 
" is playing cuttlefish — a small species of fish that has no 
mode of defending himself when pursued except by throwing 
out a black fluid which makes the water so dark the enemy 
cannot see it, and thus it escapes." 

The question at stake was too serious in Lincoln's judg- 
ment, for platform jugglery. Every moment of his time 
which Douglas forced him to spend answering irrelevant 
charges he gave begrudgingly. He struggled constantly to 
keep his speeches on the line of solid argument. Slowly but 
surely those who followed the debates began to understand 
this. It was Douglas who drew the great masses to the de- 
bates in the first place ; it was because of him that the public 
men and the newspapers of the East, as well as of the West, 
watched the discussions. But as the days went on it was not 
Douglas who made the impression. 

During the hours of the speeches the two men seemed well 
mated. " I can recall only one fact of the debates," says Mrs. 
William Crotty of Seneca, Illinois, " that I felt so sorry for 
Lincoln while Douglas w^as speaking, and then to my surprise 
I felt so sorry for Douglas when Lincoln replied." The dis- 
interested to whom it was an intellectual game, felt the pow-ei* 



THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES -21 

and charm of both men. Partisans had each reason enoug;ii 
to cheer. It was afterwards, as the debates were talked over 
by auditors as they hngered at the country store or were 
grouped on the fence in the evening, or when they were read 
in the generous reports which the newspapers of IlHnois and 
even of other States gave, that the thoroughness of Lincohi's 
argument was understood. Even the first debate at Ottawa 
had a surprising effect. " I tell you," says Mr. George Beatty 
of Ottawa, " that debate set people thinking on these import- 
ant questions in a way they hadn't dreamed of. I heard any 
number of men say : ' This thing is an awfully serious ques- 
tion, and I have about concluded Lincoln has got it right.' 
My father, a thoughtful, God-fearing man, said to me, as 
we went home to supper, ' George, you are young, and don't 
see what this thing means, as I do. Douglas's speeches of 
" squatter sovereignty " please you younger men, but I tell 
you that with us older men it's a great question that faces us. 
We've either got to keep slavery back or it's going to spread 
all over the country. That's the real question that's behind 
all this. Lincoln is right.' And that was the feeling that 
prevailed, I think, among the majority, after the debate was 
over. People went home talking about the danger of slav- 
ery getting a hold in the North. This territory had been 
Democratic; La Salle County, the morning of the day of tlie 
debate, was Democratic ; but when the next day came around, 
hundreds of Democrats had been made Republicans, owing 
to the light in which Lincoln had brought forward the fact 
that slavery threatened." 

It was among Lincoln's own friends, however, that his 
speeches produced the deepest impression. They had be- 
lieved him to be strong, but probably there was no one of 
them who had not felt dubious about his ability to meet 
Douglas. Many even feared a fiasco. Gradually it began 
to be clear to them that Lincoln was the stronger. Could it 



322 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

be that Lincoln really was a great man? The young Re- 
pu1)li(.an journalists of the " Press and Tribune " — Scripps, 
Hitt, Mcdill — began to ask themselves the ([uestion. One 
evening as they talked over Lincoln's arguments a letter was 
received. It came from a prominent Eastern statesman. 
" Who is this man that is replying to Douglas in your 
State? " he asked. " Do you realize that no greater speeches 
have been made on public questions in the history of our 
country; that his knowledge of the subject is profound, his 
logic unanswerable, his style inimitable?" Similar letters 
kept coming from various parts of the country. Before the 
campaign was over Lincoln's friends were exultant. Their 
favorite was a great man, " a full-grown man," as one of 
them wrote in his paper. 

The country at large watched Lincoln with astonishment. 
When the debates began there were Republicans in Illinois 
of wider national reputation. Judge Lyman Trumbull, then 
Senator, was better known. He was an able debater, and 
a speech which he made in August against Douglas's record 
called from the New York ''Evening Post" the remark: 
" This is the heaviest blow struck at Senator Douglas since 
he took the field in Illinois; it is unanswerable, and we sus- 
pect that it will be fatal." Trumbull's speech the " Post " 
afterwards published in pamphlet form. Besides Trumbull, 
Owen Lovejoy, Ogiesby, and Palmer were all speaking. 
That Lincoln should not only have so far outstripped men of 
his own party, but should have out-argued Douglas, was the 
cause of comment everywhere. " No man of this genera- 
tion," said the " Evening Post " editorially, at the close of 
the debate, " has grown more rapidly before the country than 
Lincoln in this canvass." As a matter of fact. Lincoln had 
attracted the attention of all the thinking men of the coun- 
try. " The first thing that really awakened my interest in 
him," says Henry Ward Beecher. " was His speech parallel 



THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 323 

with Douglas in Illinois, and indeed it was that manifesta- 
tion of ability that secured his nomination to the presi- 
dency." 

But able as were Lincoln's arguments, deep as was the im- 
pression he had made, he was not elected to the senatorship. 
Douglas won fairly enough; though it is well to note that if 
the Republicans did not elect a senator they gained a sub- 
stantial number of votes over those polled in 1856. 

Lincoln accepted the result with a serenity inexplicable 
to his supporters. To him the contest was but one battle in 
a " durable " struggle. Little matter who won now, if in 
the end the right triumphed. From the first he had looked 
at the final result — not at the senatorship. " I do not claim, 
gentlemen, to be unselfish," he said at Chicago in July. " I 
do not pretend that I would not like to go to the United States 
Senate ; I make no such hypocritical pretense ; but I do say 
to you that in this mighty issue, it is nothing to you, nothing 
to the mass of the people of the nation, whether or not Judge 
Douglas or myself shall ever be heard of after this night; it 
may be a trifle to either of us, but in connection with this 
mighty question, upon which hang the destinies of the na- 
tion perhaps, it is absolutely nothing." 

The intense heat and fury of the debates, the defeat in 
November, did not alter a jot this high view. ** I am g\hC^ I 
made the late race," he wrote Dr. A. G. Henry. " It gave 
me a hearing on the great and durable question of the age 
which I would have had in no other way ; and though I now 
sink out of view and shall be forgotten, I believe I have made 
some marks which will tell for the cause of civil liberty long 
after I am gone." 

At that date perhaps no one appreciated tiie value of what 
Lincoln had done as well as he did himself. He was abso- 
lutely sure he was right and that in the end people would 
see it. Though he might not rise, he knew his cause would. 



324 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



" Douglas had the ingenuity to be supported in the late con- 
test both as the best means to break down and to uphold the 
slave interest," he wrote. " No ingenuity can keep these an- 
tagonistic elements in harmony long. Another explosion 
will soon occur." His whole attention was given to conserv- 
ing what the Republicans had gained, — " We have some 
one hundred and twenty thousand clear Republican votes. 
That pile is worth keeping together;" to consoling his 
friends, — " You are feeling badly," he wrote to N. B. Judd, 
Chairman of the Republican Committee, " and this too shall 
pass away, never fear;" to rallying for another effort, — 
" The cause of civil liberty must not be surrendered at the 
end of one or even one hundred defeats." 

If Lincoln had at times a fear that his defeat would cause 
him to be set aside, it soon was dispelled. The interest 
awakened in him was genuine, and it spread with the wider 
reading and discussion of his arguments. He was besieged 
by letters from all parts of the Union, congratulations, en- 
couragements, criticisms. Invitations for lectures poured in 
upon him, and he became the first choice of his entire party 
for political speeches. 

The greater number of these invitations he declined. He 
had given so much time to politics since 1854 that his law 
practice had been neglected and he was feeling poor; but 
there were certain of the calls which could not be resisted. 
Douglas spoke several times for the Democrats of Ohio in 
the 1859 campaign for governor and Lincoln naturally was 
asked to reply. He made but two speeches, one at Columbus 
on September 16 and the other at Cincinnati on September 
17, but he had great audiences on both occasions. The 
Columbus speech was devoted almost entirely to answering 
an essay by Douglas which had been published in the Sep- 
tember number of " Harper's Magazine," and which began 
by asserting that — " Under our complex system of gov- 



THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 325 

ernment it is the first duty of American statesmen to mark 
distinctly the dividing-Hne between Federal and Local au- 
thority." It was an elaborate argument for " popular sov- 
ereignty " and attracted national attention. Lideed, at the 
moment it was the talk of the county. Lincoln literally tore 
it to bits. 

"What is Judge Douglas's popular sovereignty?" he 
asked. " It is, as a principle, no other than that if one 
man chooses to make a slave of another man, neither that 
other man nor anybody else has a right to object. Applied 
in government, as he seeks to apply it, it is this; If, in a 
new territory into which a few people are beginning to 
enter for the purpose of making their homes, they choose 
to either exclude slavery from their limits or to establish it 
there, however one or the other may affect the persons to 
be enslaved, or the infinitely greater number of persons who 
are afterward to inhabit that Territory, or the other mem- 
bers of the families of communities, of which they are but 
an incipient member, or the general head of the family of 
States as parent of all — however their action may affect one 
or the other of these, there is no power or right to interfere. 
That is Douglas's popular sovereignty applied." 

It was in this address that Lincoln uttered the oft-quoted 
paragraphs : 

" I suppose the institution of slavery really looks small 
to him. He is so put up by nature that a lash upon his l)ack 
would hurt him, but a lash upon anybody else's back does 
not hurt him. That is the build of the man, and conse- 
quently he looks upon the matter of slavery in this unim- 
portant light. 

" Judge Douglas ought to remember, when he is endeav- 
oring to force this policy upon the American people, that 
while he is put up in that way, a good many are not. He 
ought to remember that there was once in this country a 
man by the name of Thomas Jefferson, supposed to be a 
Democrat — a man whose principles and policy are not very 



326 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

prevalent amongst Democrats to-day, it is true: but that 
man did not take exactly this view of the insignificance of 
the element of slavery which our friend Judge Douglas 
does. In contemplation of this thing, we all know he was led 
to exclaim, ' I tremble for my country when I remember that 
God is just ! ' We know how he looked upon it when he 
thus expressed himself. There was danger to this country, 
danger of the avenging justice of God, in that little unim- 
portant popular-sovereignty question of Judge Douglas. He 
supposed there was a question of God's eternal justice 
wrapped up in the enslaving of any race of men, or any 
man, and that those who did so braved the arm of Jehovah — 
that when a nation thus dared the Almighty, every friend of 
that nation had cause to dread his wrath. Choose ye be- 
tween Jefferson and Douglas as to what is the true view 
of this element among us." 

One interesting point about the Columbus address is that 
in it appears the germ of the Cooper Institute speech deliv- 
ered five months later in New York City. 

Lincoln made so deep an impression in Ohio by his 
speeches that the State Republican Committee asked per- 
mission to publish them together with the Lincoln-Douglas 
Debates as campaign documents in the presidential election 
of the next year. 

In December he yielded to the persuasion of his Kansas 
political friends and delivered five lectures in that State, 
only fragments of which have been preserved. 

Unquestionably the most effective piece of work he did 
that winter was the address at Cooper Institute, New York, 
on February 27. He had received an invitation in the fall 
of 1859 to lecture at Plymouth Church, Brooklyn. To his 
friends it was evident that he was greatly pleased by the 
compliment, but that he feared that he was not equal to 
an Eastern audience. After some hesitation he accepted, 
orovided they would take a political speech if he could find 




LINCOLN IN FEBRUARY, 1860, AT THE TIME OF THE COOPER INSTITUTE SPEECH 

From photograph by Brady. The debate with Doughis in 1S58 had given Lincoln a 
national reputation, and the following year he received many invitations to lecture. 
One came from a young men's Republican club in New York. Lincoln consented, and 
in February, 1800 (about three months before his nomination for the presidency), de- 
livered what is known, from the hall in which it was delivered, as the "Cooper Institute 
speech." While in New York he was taken by the committee of entertainment to 
Brady's gallery, and sat for the portrait reproduced above. It was a frequent remark 
with Lincoln that this portrait and the Cooper Institute speech made him President. 



THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 327 

time to get up no other. When he reached New York he 
found that he was to speak there instead of Brooklyn, and 
that he was certain to have a distinguished audience. Fear- 
ful lest he was not as well prepared as he ought to be, con- 
scious, too, no doubt, that he had a great opportunity before 
him, he spent nearly all of the two days and a half before 
his lecture in revising his matter and in familiarizing him- 
self with it. In order that he might be sure that he was 
heard he arranged with his friend. Mason Brayman, who 
had come on to New York with him, to sit in the back of 
the hall and in case he did not speak loud enough to raise 
his high hat on a cane. 

Mr. Lincoln's audience was a notable one even for New 
York. It included William Cullen Bryant, who introduced 
him, Horace Greeley, David Dudley Field and many more 
well known men of the day. It is doubtful if there v/ere 
any persons present, even his best friends, who expected 
that Lincoln would do more than interest his hearers by his 
sound arguments. Many have confessed since that they 
feared his queer manner and quaint speeches would amuse 
people so much that they would fail to catch the weight of 
his logic. But to the surprise of everybody Lincoln im- 
pressed his audience from the start by his dignity and his 
seriousness. " His manner was, to a New York audience, a 
very strange one, but it was captivating," wrote an auditor. 
" He held the vast meeting spellbound, and as one by one his 
oddly expressed but trenchant and convincing arguments 
confirmed the soundness of his political conclusions, the 
house broke out in wild and prolonged enthusiasm. I think 
I never saw an audience more thoroughly carried away by an 
orator." 

The Cooper Union speech was founded on a sentence from 
one of Douglas's Ohio speeches • — " Our fathers A\hen they 
framed the government under which_we live understood 



328 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

this question just as well, and even better, than we do now." 
Douglas claimed that the " fathers " held that the Constitu- 
tion forbade the Federal government controlling slavery in 
the Territories. Lincoln with infinite care had investigated 
the opinions and votes of each of the " fathers " — whom 
he took to be the thirty-nine men who signed the Constitu- 
tion — and showed conclusively that a majority of them 
'* certainly understood that no proper division of local from 
Federal authority nor any part of the Constitution forbade 
the Federal government to control slavery in the Federal 
Territories." Not only did he show this of the thirty-nine 
framers of the original Constitution, but he defied anybody 
to show that one of the seventy-six members of the Con- 
gress which framed the amendments to the Constitution ever 
held any such view. 

" Let all," he said, " who believe that ' our fathers who 
framed the government under which we live understood this 
question just as well, and even better, than we do now,' speak 
as they spoke, and act as they acted upon it. This is all Re- 
publicans ask — all Republicans desire — in relation to slav- 
ery. As those fathers marked it, so let it be again marked, 
as an evil not to be extended, but to be tolerated and pro- 
tected only because of and so far as its actual presence among 
us makes that toleration and protection a necessity. Let all 
the guaranties those fathers gave it be not grudgingly, but 
fully and fairly, maintained. For this Republicans contend, 
and with this, so far as I know or believe, they will be con- 
tent." 

One after another he took up and replied to the charges 
the South was making against the North at the moment : — ■ 
Sectionalism, radicalism, giving undue prominence to the 
slave question, stirring up insurrection among slaves, refus- 
ing to allow constitutional rights, and to each he had an un- 
impassioned answer impret^nable with facts. 



THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 329 

The discourse was ended with what Lincoln felt to be a 
precise statement of the opinion of the question on both 
sides, and of the duty of the Republican party under the cir- 
cumstances. This portion of his address is one of the finest 
early examples of that simple and convincing style in which 
most of his later public documents were written. 

" If slavery is right," he said, " all words, acts, laws, and 
constitutions against it are themselves wrong, and should be 
silenced and swept away. If it is right, we cannot justly 
object to its nationality — its universality ; if it is wrong, they 
cannot justly insist upon its extension — its enlargement. All 
they ask w^e could readily grant, if we thought slavery right ; 
all we ask they could as readily grant, if they thought it 
wrong. Their thinking it right and our thinking it wrong 
is the precise fact upon which depends the whole controversy. 
Thinking it right, as they do, they are not to blame for de- 
siring its full recognition as being right; but thinking it 
wrong, as we do, can we yield to them? Can we cast our 
votes with their view, and against our own? In view of our 
moral, social, and political responsibilities, can we do this? 

" Wrong, as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to let it 
alone where it is, because that much is due to the necessity 
arising from its actual presence in the nation ; but can we, 
while our votes will prevent it, allow it to spread into the 
national Territories, and to overrun us here in these free 
States? If our sense of duty forbids this, then let us stand 
by our duty fearlessly and effectively. Let us be diverted 
by none of those sophistical contrivances wherewith we are 
so industriously plied and belabored — contrivances such as 
groping for some middle ground between the right and the 
wrong : vain as the search for a man who should be neither 
a living man nor a dead man ; such as a policy of ' don't care ' 
on a question about which all true men do care; such as 
Union appeals beseeching true Union men to yield to Dis- 
unionists, reversing the divine rule, and calling, not the 
sinners, but the righteous to repentance; such as invocations 
to Washington, imploring men to unsay what Washington 
said and undo what Washington did. 



^T^o LIFE OF LINCOLN 

" Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false ac- 
cusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of 
destruction to the government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. 
Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith 
let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it." 

From New York Lincoln went to New Hampshire to 
visit his son Robert, then at Phillips Exeter Academy, His 
coming was known only a short time before he arrived and 
hurried arrangements were made for him to speak at Con- 
cord, Manchester, Exeter and Dover. At Concord the ad- 
dress was made in the afternoon on only a few hours' notice, 
nevertheless, he had a great audience, so eager were men at 
the time to hear anybody who had serious arguments on the 
slavery question. Something of the impression Lincoln made 
in New Hampshire may be gathered from the following ar- 
ticle, " Mr. Lincoln in New Hampshire," which appeared 
in the Boston " Atlas and Bee " for March 5 : 

The Concord " Statesman " says that notwithstanding the 
rain of Thursday, rendering travelling very inconvenient, the 
largest hall in that city was crowded to hear Mr. Lincoln. 
The editor says it was one of the most powerful, logical and 
compacted speeches to which it was ever our fortune to lis- 
ten ; an argument against the system of slavery, and in de- 
fence of the position of the Republican party, from the de- 
ductions of which no reasonable man could possibly escape. 
He fortified every position assumed, by proofs which it is 
impossible to gainsay ; and while his speech was at intervals 
enlivened by remarks which elicited applause at the expense 
of the Democratic i)arty. there was, nevertheless, not a single 
word which tended to impair the dignity of the speaker, or 
weaken the force of the great truths he uttered. 

The " Statesman " adds that the address " was perfect, 
and was closed by a peroration which brought his audience 
to their feet. We are not extravagant in the remark, that a 
])()litical si)eech of greater power has rarely if ever been ut- 
tered in the Capital o^ New Hampshire. At its conclusio 



THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 331 

nine roof-raising clieers were given; three for the speaker, 
three for the Repubhcans of IlHnois, and three for the Re- 
pubhcans of New Hampshire." 

On the same evening Mr. Lincohi spoke at Manchester, to 
an immense gathering in Smyth's Hall. The " Mirror," a 
neutral paper, gives the following enthusiastic notice of his 
speech : " The audience was a flattering one to the reputa- 
tion of the speaker. It was composed of persons of all sorts 
of political notions, earnest to hear one whose fame was so 
great, and we think most of them went away thinking better 
of him than they anticipated they should. He spoke an hour 
and a half with great fairness, great apparent candor, and 
with wonderful interest. He did not abuse the South, the 
Administration, or the Democrats, or indulge in any person- 
alities, with the solitary exception of a few hits at Doug- 
las's notions. He is far frori prepossessing in personal ap- 
pearance, and his voice is disagreeable, and yet he wins your 
attention and gc-^d will from the start. 

" He indulges in no flowers of rhetoric, no eloquent pas- 
sages ; he is not a wit, a humorist or a clown ; yet, so great a 
vein of pleasantry and good nature pervades what he says, 
gilding over a deep current of practical argument, he keeps 
his hearers in a smiling good mood with their mouths open 
ready to swallow all he says. His sense of the ludicrous is 
very keen, and an exhibition of that is thj clincher of all his 
arguments; not the ludicrous acts of persons, but ludicrous 
ideas. Hence he is never offensive, and steals away willingly 
into his train of belief, persons who are opposed to him. 
For the first half hour his opponents would agree with every 
word he uttered, and from that point he began to lead them 
off, little by little, cunningly, till it seemed as if he had got 
them all into his fold. He displays more shrewdness, more 
knowledge of the masses of mankind than any pul)lic speaker 
we have heard since long Jim Wilson left for California." 

From New Hampshire Lincoln went to Connecticut, 
where on March 5 he spoke at Hartford, on March 6 at New 
Haven, on March 8 at Woonsocket, on March 9 at Norwich. 
There are no reports of the New Hampshire speeches, but 



T,%2 JAFE OF LINCOLN 



00 



two of the Connecticut speeches were published in part and 
one in full. Their effect was very similar, according to the 
newspapers of the day, to that in New Hampshire, described 
by the " Atlas and Bee." 

By his debates with Douglas and the speeches in Ohio, 
Kansas, New York and New England, Lincoln had become 
a national figure in the minds of all the political leaders of 
the country, and of the thinking men of the North. Never 
in the history of the United States had a man become 
prominent in a more logical and intelligent way. At the 
beginning of the struggle against the repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise in 1854, Abraham Lincoln was scarcely known 
outside of his own State. Even most of the men whom he 
had met in his brief term in Congress had forgotten him. 
Yet in four years he had become one of the central figures 
of his party; and now, by worsting the greatest orator and 
politician of his time, he had drawn the eyes of the nation to 
him. 

It had been a long road he had travelled to make himself 
a national figure. Twenty-eight years before he had delib- 
erately entered politics. He had been beaten, but had per- 
sisted ; he had succeeded and failed ; he had abandoned the 
struggle and returned to his profession. His outraged sense 
of justice had driven him back, and for six years he had 
travelled up and down Illinois trying to prove to men that 
slavery extension was wrong. It was by no one speech, by 
no one argument that he had wrought. Every day his cease- 
less study and pondering gave him new matter, and every 
speech he made was fresh. He could not repeat an old 
speech, he said, because the subject enlarged and widened 
so in his mind as he went on that it was " easier to make a 
new one than an old one." He had never yielded in his cam- 
paign to tricks of oratory — never played on emotions. He 
had been so strong in his convictions of the rxp-ht of his case 



THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATES 333 

that his speeches had been arguments pure and sunple. Tlieir 
elegance was that of a demonstration in EucHd. They per- 
suaded because they proved. He had never for a momeni 
counted personal ambition before the cause. To insure an 
ardent opponent of the Kansas-Nebraska bill in the United 
States Senate, he had at one time given up his chance for 
the senatorship. To show the fallacy of Douglas's argu- 
ment, he had asked a question which his party pleaded witli 
him to pass by, assuring him that it would lose him the elec- 
tion. In every step of these six years he had been disinter- 
ested, calm, unyielding, and courageous. He knew he was 
right, and could afford to wait. '' The result is not doubt- 
ful," he told his friends. '* We shall not fail — if we stand 
firm. We shall nut fail. Wise counsels may accelerate or 
mistakes delay it ; but, sooner or later, the victory is sure to 
come." 

The country, amazed at the rare moral and intellectual 
character of Lincoln, began to ask questions about him, and 
then his history came out; a pioneer home, little schooling, 
few books, hard labor at all the many trades of the frontiers- 
man, a profession mastered o' nights by the light of a 
friendly cooper's fire, an early entry into politics and law — 
and then twenty-five years of incessant poverty and strug- 
gle. 

The homely story gave a touch of mystery to the figure 
which loomed so large. Men felt a sudden reverence for a 
mind and heart developed to these noble proportions in so 
unfriendly a habitat. They turned instinctively to one so 
familiar with strife for help in solving the desperate prob- 
lem wath which the nation had grappled. And thus it was 
that, at fifty years of age, Lincoln became a national Bo-nvQ. 



CHAPTER XIX 
Lincoln's nomination in i860 

The possibility of Abraham Lincoln becoming the presi- 
dential candidate of the Republican party in i860 was proba- 
bly first discussed by a few of his friends in 1856. The dra- 
matic speech which in May of that year gave him the leader- 
ship of his party in Illinois, and the unexpected and flatter- 
ing attention he received a few weeks later at the Republican 
national convention suggested the idea; but there is no evi- 
dence that anything more was excited than a little specu- 
lation. The impression Lincoln made two years later in the 
Lincoln and Douglas debates kindled a different feeling. It 
convinced a number of astute Illinois politicians that ju- 
dicious effort would make Lincoln strong enough to justify 
the presentation of his name as a candidate in i860 on the 
ground of pure availability. 

One of the first men to conceive this idea was Jesse W. 
Fell, a local politician of Bloomington, Illinois. During the 
Lincoln and Douglas debates Fell was travelling in the 
Middle and Eastern States. He was surprised to find that 
Lincoln's speeches attracted general attention, that many 
papers copied liberally from them, and that on all sides men 
plied him with questions about the career and personality 
of the new man. Before Fell left the East he had made up 
his mind that Lincoln must be pushed by his own State as its 
presidential candidate. One evening, soon after returning 
home, he met Lincoln in Bloomington, where the latter was 
attending court, and drew him into a deserted law-office for a 
confidential talk. 

334 



NOMINATION IN i860 



-1 '> c 



*t 



I have been East, Lincoln," said he, " as far as Boston, 
and up into New Hampshire, travelHng in all the New Eng- 
land States, save Maine; in New York, New Jersey, Penn- 
sylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana ; and everywhere I 
hear you talked about. Very frequently I have been asked, 
' Who is this man Lincoln, of your State, now canvassing 
in opposition to Senator Douglas ? ' Being, as you know, 
an ardent Republican and your friend, I usually told them 
we had in Illinois tzvo giants instead of one; that Douglas 
was the little one, as they all knew, but that you were the big 
one, which they didn't all know. 

" But, seriously, Lincoln, Judge Douglas being so widely 
known, you are getting a national reputation through him, 
and the truth is. I have a decided impression that if your 
popular history and efforts on the slavery question can be 
sufficiently brought before the people, you can be made a 
formidable, if not a successful, candidate for the presi- 
dency." 

" What's the use of talking of me for the presidency," 
was Lincoln's reply, " whilst we have such men as Seward, 
Chase, and others, who are so much better known to the peo- 
ple, and whose names are so intimately associated with t'.".<; 
principles of the Republican party ? Everybody knows them ; 
nobody scarcely outside of Illinois knows me. Besides, is 
it not, as a matter of justice, due to such men, who have car- 
ried this movement forward to its present status, in spite of 
fearful opposition, personal abuse, and hard names ? I really 
think so." 

Fell continued his persuasions, and finally requested Lin- 
coln to furnish him a sketch of his life which could be put 
out in the East. The suggestion grated on Lincoln's sensi- 
bilities. He had no chance. Why force himself? '* Fell," 
he said, rising and wrapping his old gray shawl around his 
tall figure, " I admit that I am ambitious and would like to 



336 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

be President. I am not insensible to the compliment you pay 
me and the mterest you manifest in the matter ; but there is 
no such good luck in store for me as the presidency of these 
United States. Besides, there is nothing in m_y early history 
that would interest you or anybody else ; and, as Judge Da- 
vis says, ' it zvon't pay.' Good night." And he disappeared 
into the darkness. 

Lincoln's defeat in November, 1858, in the contest for 
the United States senatorship, in no way discouraged his 
friends. A few days after the November election, when it 
was known that Douglas had been reelected senator, the Chi- 
cago " Democrat," then edited by " Long John " Went- 
worth, printed an editorial, nearly a column in length, headed 
" Abraham Lincoln." His work in the campaign then just 
closed was reviewed and commended in the highest terms. 

" His speeches," the " Democrat " declared, " will be 
recognized for a long time to come as the standard authori- 
ties upon those topics which overshadow all others in the 
political world of our day ; and our children will read them 
and appreciate the great truths which they so forcibly incul- 
cate, with even a higher appreciation of their worth than 
*heir fathers possessed while listening to them. 

" We, for our part," said the " Democrat " further, " con- 
sider that it would be but a partial appreciation of his services 
to our noble cause that our next State Republican Convention 
should nominate him for governor as unanimously and en- 
thusiastically as it did for senator. With such a leader and 
with our just cause, we would sweep the Stale from end to 
end, with a triumph so complete and perfect that there would 
be scarce enough of the scattered and demoralized forces of 
the enemy left to tell the story of its defeat. And this State 
should also present his name to the National Republican 
Convention, first for President and next for Vice-President. 
We should then say to the United States at large that in our 
opinion the Great Man of Illinois is Abraham Lincoln, and 
none other than Abraham Lincoln." 



NOMINATION IN i860 -.^,7 

All through the year 1859 a few men in Illinois worked 
quietly but persistently to awaken a demand throughout the 
State for Lincoln's nomination. The greater number of 
these were lawyers on Lincoln's circuit, his life-long friends, 
men like Judge Davis, Leonard Swett, and Judge Logan, 
who not only believed in him, but loved him, and whose ef- 
forts were doubly effective because of their affection. In ad- 
dition to these were a few shrewd politicians who saw in 
Lincoln the " available " man the situation demanded ; and 
a group represented by John M. Palmer, who, remembering 
Lincoln's magnanimity in throwing his influence to Trum- 
bull in 1854, in order to send a sound Anti-Nebraska man 
to the United States Senate, wanted, as Senator Palmer him- 
self put it, to " pay Lincoln back." Then there were a few 
young men who had been won by Lincoln in the debates 
with Douglas, and who threw youthful enthusiasm and con- 
viction into their support. The first time his name was sug- 
gested as a candidate in the newspapers, indeed, was because 
the young editor of the Central Illinois " Gazette," Mr. W. 
O. Stoddard, had caught a glimpse of Lincoln's inner might 
and concluding in a sudden burst of boyish exultation 
that Lincoln was " the greatest man he had ever seen or 
heard of," had rushed off and written an editorial nominat- 
ing him for the presidency ; this editorial was published on 
May 4, 1859. 

The work which these men did at this time cannot be 
traced with any definiteness. It consisted mainly in '' talk- 
ing up " their candidate. They were greatly aided by the 
newspapers. The press, indeed, followed a concerted plan 
that had been carefully laid out by the Republican State 
Committee in the office of the Chicago " Tribune." To give 
an appearance of spontaneity to the newspaper canvass it 
was arranged that the country papers should first take up 
Lincoln's name. Joseph Medill, editor of the " Tribune," 



338 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

and secretary of the committee, says that a Rock Island pa- 
per opened the campaign. 

Lincoln soon felt the force of this effort in his hehalf. 
Letters came to him from unexpected quarters, offering aid. 
Everywhere he went on the circuit, men sought him to dis- 
cuss the situation. In the face of an undoubted movement 
for him he quailed. The interest was local ; could it ever be 
more? Above all, had he the qualifications for President of 
the United States? He asked himself these questions as he 
pondered a reply to an editor who had suggested announc- 
ing his name, and he wrote ; " I must in all candor say I 
do not think myself fit for the presidency." 

This was in April, 1859. ^'"^ ^^^^ J^^'y following he still 
declared himself unfit. Even in the following November 
he had little hope of nomination. " For my single self," he 
wrote to a correspondent who had suggested the putting of 
his name on the ticket, " I have enlisted for the permanent 
success of the Republican cause, and for this object I shall 
labor faithfully in the ranks, unless, as I think not probable, 
the judgment of the party shall assign me a different posi- 
tion." 

The last weeks of 1859 and the first of i860 convinced 
Lincoln, however, that, fit or not, he was in the field. Fell, 
who as corresponding secretary of the Republican State Cen- 
tral Committee had been travelling constantly in the inter- 
ests of the organization, brought him such proof that his 
candidacy was generally approved of, that in December, 
1859, he consented to write the " little sketch " of his life 
now known as Lincoln's " autobiography." 

He wrote it with a little inward shrinking, a half shame 
that it was so meagre. '* There is not much of it," he apolo- 
gized in sending the document, " for the reason, I suppose, 
that there is not much of me. If anything be made out of it, 
I wish it to be modest, and not to go beyond the material." 



NOMINATION IN i860 339 

By the opening of i860 Lincoln had conchided that, 
though he might not be a very promising candidate, at all 
events he was now in so deep that he must have the approval 
of his own State, and he began to work in earnest for that. 
" I am not in a position where it would hurt much for me to 
not be nominated on the national ticket," he wrote to Nor- 
man B. Judd, " but I am where it would hurt some for me 
to not get the Illinois delegates. . . . Can you help me 
a little in your end of the vineyard? " 

The plans of the Lincoln men were well matured. About 
the first of December, 1859, Medill had gone to Washing- 
ton, ostensibly as a " Tribune " correspondent, but really to 
promote Lincoln's nomination. " Before writing any Lin- 
coln letters for the " Tribune,'" says Mr. Medill in his 
" Reminiscences," " I began preaching Lincoln among the 
Congressmen. I urged him chiefly upon the ground of 
availability in the close and doubtful States, with what 
seemed like reasonable success." 

February 16, i860, the "Tribune" came out editorially 
for Lincoln, and Medill followed a few days later with a 
ringing letter from Washington, naming Lincoln as a can- 
didate on whom both conservative and radical sentiment 
could unite, and declaring that he now heard Lincoln's name 
mentioned for President in Washington " ten times as often 
as it wac one month ago." About the time when Medill was 
writing thus, Norman B. Judd, as member of the Republican 
National Committee, was executing a manoeuvre the impor- 
tance of which no one realized but the Illinois politicians. 
This was securing the convention for Chicago. 

As the spring passed and the counties of Illinois held their 
conventions, Lincoln found that, save in the North, where 
Seward was strong, he was unanimously recommended as the 
candidate at Chicago. When the State Convention met at 
Decatur, May 9 and 10, he received an ovation of so 



340 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

picturesque and unique a character that it colored all the rest 
o£ the cami)aign. The delegates were in session when Lin- 
coln came in as a spectator and was invited to a seat on the 
platform. Soon after, Richard Oglesby, one of Lincoln's 
ardent supporters, asked that an old Democrat of Macon 
County be allowed to offer a contribution to the convention. 
The offer was accepted, and a curious banner was borne up 
the hall. The standard was made of two weather-worn 
fence-rails, decorated with flags and streamers, and bearing 
the inscription : 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

THE RAIL CANDIDATE 

FOR PRESIDENT IN i860 

Two rails from a lot of 3,000 made in 1830 
by Thos. Hanks and Abe Lincoln — whose 
father was the first pioneer of Macon County. 

A storm of applause greeted the banner, followed by cries 
of " Lincoln ! Lincoln ! " Rising, Lincoln said pointing to 
the banner, " I suppose I am expected to reply to that. I can- 
not say whether 1 made those rails or not, but 1 am quite 
sure I have made a great many just as good." The speech 
was warmly applauded, and one delegate, an influential Ger- 
man and an ardent Seward man, George Schneider, after wit- 
nessing the demonstration, turned to his neighlK)r and said, 
"Seward lias lost the Illinois delegation." He was right; 
for when, later, John M. Palmer brought forth a resolution 
that " Abraham Lincoln is the choice of the Republican party 
of Illinois for the i)resi(lency, and the delegates from this 
State are instructed to use all honorable means to secure his 
nomination Ijy the Chicago Con\ontion, and to vote as a 
unit for him," it was ciitluisiasticr.liy adopted. 

While the politicians of Illinois were thus preparing for 
the campaign, the Reuublicans of the East hardly realized 




LINCOLN IN THE SUMMER OF 1860 

From a copy of a photograph owned by Mrs. Cyrus Aldrich. Reproduced 
here through the courtesy of Mr. Daniel Fish, of Mmneapohs. 



NOMINATION IN iS6o ^.. 

that Lincoln was or could be made a possibility. In the first 
four months of i860 his name was almost unmentioned as a 
presidential candidate in the public prints of the East. In 
a list of twenty-one " prominent candidates for the presi- 
dency in i860," prepared by D. W. Bartlett and pul)iished 
in New York towards the end of 1859, Lincoln's name is 
not mentioned; nor does it appear in a list of thirty-four of 
" our living representative men," prepared for presidential 
purposes by John Savage, and published in Philadelphia in 
i860. The most important notice at this period of which we 
know was a casual mention in an editorial in the New York 
"Evening Post," February 15. The "Post" considered 
it time for the Republicans to speak out about the nominee 
at the coming convention, and remarked : " With such men 
as Seward and Chase, Banks and Lincoln, and others in 
plenty, let us have two Republican representative men to 
vote for." This was ten days before the Cooper Union 
speech and the New England tour, which undoubtedly did 
much to recommend Lincoln as a logical and statesmanlike 
thinker and debater, though there is no evidence that it cre- 
ated him a presidential following in the East, save, perhaps, 
in New Hampshire. Indeed it was scarcely to be expected 
that prudent and conservative men would conclude that, 
because he could make a good speech, he would make 
a good President. They knew him to be comparatively un- 
trained in public life and comparatively untried in large af- 
fairs. They naturally preferred a man who had a record for 
executive statesmanship. 

Up to the opening of the convention in May there was, in 
fact, no specially prominent mention of Lincoln by the East- 
ern press. Greeley, intent on undermining Seward, though 
as yet nobody perceived him to be so, printed in the New 
York weekly " Tribune" — the paper which went to the coun- 
try at large — correspondence favoring the nomination of 



342 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Bates and Read, McLean and Bell, Cameron, Fremont, Day- 
ton, Chase, Wade; but not Lincoln. The New York " Her- 
ald " of May I, in discussing editorially the nominee of the 
" Black Republicans," recognized " four living, two dead, 
aspirants." The " living " were Seward, Banks, Chase, and 
Cameron; the " dead," Bates and McLean. May lo " The 
Independent," in an editorial on " The Nomination at Chi- 
cago," said : " Give us a man known to be true upon the only 
question that enters into the canvass — a Seward, a Chase, a 
Wade, a Sumner, a Fessenden, a Banks." But it did not 
mention Lincoln. His most conspicuous Eastern recogni- 
tion before the convention was in " Harper's Weekly " of 
May 12, his face being included in a double page of portraits 
of " eleven prominent candidates for the Republican presi- 
dential nomination at Chicago." Brief biographical sketches 
appeared in the same number — the last and the shortest of 
them being of Lincoln. 

It was on May i6 that the Republican Convention of 
i860 formally opened at Chicago, but for days before the 
city was in a tumult c^f expectation and preparation. The 
audacity of inviting a national convention to meet there, in 
the condition in which Chicago chanced to be at that time, 
was purely Chicagoan. No other city would have risked it. 
In ten years Chicago had nearly quadrupled its population, 
and it was believed that the feat would be repeated in the 
coming decade. In the first flush of youthful energy and 
ambition the town had undertaken the colossal task of rais- 
ing itself bodily out of the grassy marsh, where it had been 
originaHy placed, to a level of twelve feet above Lake Michi- 
gan, and of putting underneath a good, solid foundation. 
When the invitation to the convention was extended, half 
the buildings in Chicago were on stilts; some of the streets 
had been raised to the new grade, others still lay in the mud ; 



NOMINATION IN i860 343 

half the sidewalks were poised high on piles, and half were 
still down on a level with the lake. A city with a conven- 
tional sense of decorum would not have cared to be seen ni 
this demoralized condition, but Chicago perhaps conceived 
that it would but prove her courage and confidence to show 
the country what she was doing ; and so she had the conven- 
tion come. 

But it was not the convention alone which came. Besides 
the delegates, the professional politicians, the newspaper 
men, and the friends of the several candidates, there came a 
motley crowd of men hired to march and to cheer for par- 
ticular candidates, — a kind of out-of-door claque which did 
not wait for a point to be made in favor of its man, but went 
off in rounds of applause at the mere mention of his name. 
New York brought the greatest number of these professional 
applauders, the leader of them being a notorious prize-fighter 
and street politician, — *' a sort of white black-bird," says 
Bromley, — one Tom Hyer. With the New York delega- 
tion, which numbered all told fully two thousand Seward 
men, came Dodworth's Band, one of tlie celebrated musical 
organizations of that day. 

While New York sent the largest number, Pennsylvania 
was not far behind, there being about one thousand five hun- 
dred persons present from that State. From New England, 
long as was the distance, there were many trains of excur- 
sionists. The New England delegation took Gilmore's Band 
with it, and from Boston to Chicago stirred up every commu- 
nity in which it stopped, with music and speeches. Several 
days before the convention opened fully one-half of the mem- 
bers of the United States House of Representatives were in 
the city. To still further increase the throng were hundreds 
of merely curious spectators whom the flattering inducements 
of the fifteen railroads centring in Chicago at that time had 



344 I-IFE OF LINCOLN 

tempted to take a trip. There were fully forty thousand 
strangers in the city during the sitting of the convention. 

The streets for a week were the forum of this multitude. 
Processions for Seward, for Cameron, for Chase, for Lin- 
coln, marched and counter-marched, brave with banners and 
transparencies, and noisy with country bands and hissing 
rockets. Every street corner became a rostrum, where im- 
promptu harangues for any of a dozen candidates might be 
happened upon. In this hurly-burly two figures were particu- 
larly prominent: Tom Kyer, who managed the open-air 
Seward demonstration, and Horace Greeley, who was con- 
ducting independently his campaign against Seward, Gree- 
ley, in his fervor, talked incessantly. It was only necessary 
for some one to say in a rough but friendly way, '' There's 
old Greeley," and all within hearing distance grouped about 
him. Not infrequently the two or three to whom he began 
speaking increased until that which had started as a conver- 
sation ended as a speech. 

In this half-spontaneous, half-organized demonstration of 
the streets, Lincoln's followers were conspicuous. State 
pride made Chicago feel that she must stand by her own, 
Lincoln banners floated across every street, and buildings 
and omnibuses were decorated with Lincoln emblems. When 
the Illinois delegation saw that New York and Pennsylva- 
nia had brought in so many outsiders to create enthusiasm 
for their respective candidates, they began to call in sup- 
porters from the neighboring localities. Leonard Swett says 
that they succeeded in getting together fully ten thousand 
men from Illinois and Indiana, ready to march, shout, or 
fight for Lincoln, as the case required. 

Not only was the city full of people days before the con- 
vention began, but the delegations had organized and actual 
work was in progress. Every device conceivable by an in- 
genious opposition was resorted to in order to weaken Sew- 



NOMINATION IN i860 345 

ard, the most formidable of the candidates. The night he- 
fore the openmg of the convention a great mass meeting was 
held in the Wigwam. The Seward men had arranged to 
have only advocates of their own candidate speak. Bnt the 
clever opposition detected the game, and William D. Kelley 
of Pennsylvania, who was for Lincoln or for Wade, got the 
floor and held it until nearly midnight, doggedly talking 
against time until an audience of twelve thousand had 
dwindled to less than one thousand. 

One of the first of the delegations to begin activities was 
that of Illinois. The Tremont House had been chosen as its 
headquarters, and here were gathered almost all the influen- 
tial friends Lincoln had in the State. They came determined 
to win if human effort could compass it, and men never put 
more intense and persistent energy into a cause. Judge Da- 
vis was naturally the head of the body; but Judge Logan, 
Leonard Swett, John M. Palmer, Richard Oglesby, N. B. 
Judd, Jesse W. Fell, and a score more were with him. " W^e 
worked like nailers," Governor Oglesby often declared in 
after years. 

The effort for Lincoln had to begin in the Illinois delega- 
tion itself. In spite of the rail episode at Decatur, the State 
convention was by no means unanimous for Lincoln. " Our 
delegation was instructed for him," wrote Leonard Swett 
to Josiah Drummond,* " but of the twenty-two votes in it, 
by incautiously selecting the men, there were eight who 
would have gladly gone for Seward. The reason of this is 
in this fact : the northern counties of this State are more 
overwhelmingly Republican than any other portion of the 
continent. I could pick twenty-five contiguous counties giv- 
ing larger Republican majorities than any other adjacent 

*This letter, written by Mr. Swett on May 27, i860, to Josiah Drum- 
Tuond ot Maine, is one of the best documents on the convention. It 
was published in the New York " Sun " of July 26, 1891, and is printed 
in O, H. Oldroyd's "Lincoln's Campaign." 



1 



46 LIFE OF LINCOLN 



counties in any State. The result is, many people there are 
for Seward, and such men had crept upon the delegation. 
They intended in good faith to go for Lincoln, hut talked 
despondingly, and really wanted and expected finally to vote 
as I have indicated. We had also in the North and about 
Chicago a class of men who always want to turn up on the 
winning side, and who would do no work, although their 
feelings were really for us, for fear it would be the losing 
element and would place them out of favor with the incom- 
ing power. These men were dead weights. The centre and 
South, with many individual exceptions to the classes I have 
lamed, were warmly for Lincoln, whether he won or lost. 

" The lawyers of our circuit went there determined to 
leave no stone unturned ; and really they, aided by some of 
our State officers and a half dozen men from various por- 
tions of the State, were the only tireless, sleepless, unwaver- 
ing, and ever vigilant friends he had." 

The situation which the Illinois delegation faced, briefly 
put, was this: the Republican party had in i860 but one 
prominent candidate, William H. Seward. By virtue of his 
great talents, his superior cultivation, and his splendid serv- 
ices in anti-slavery agitation, he was the choice of the ma- 
jority of the Republican party. It was certain that at the 
opening of the convention he would have nearly enough 
votes to nominate him. But still there was a considerable 
and resolute opposition. The grounds of this were several, 
but the most substantial and convincing was that Illinois, 
Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey all declared that 
they could not elect Seward if he w^as nominated. Andrew 
G. Curtin of Pennsylvania, and Henry S. Lane of Indiana, 
candidates for governor in their respective States, were both 
his active opponents, not from dislike of him, but because 
they were convinced that they would themselves be defeated 
if he headed the Republican ticket. It was clear to the en- 



NOMINATION IN i860 347 

tire party that Pennsylvania and Indiana were essential to 
Republican success ; and since many States with which Sew- 
ard was the first choice held success in November as more 
important than Seward, they were willing to give their sup- 
port to an " available " man. But the difficulty was to unite 
this opposition. Nearly every State which considered Sew- 
ard an unsafe candidate had a " favorite son " whom it was 
pushing as "available." Pennsylvania wanted Cameron; 
New Jersey, Dayton ; Ohio, Chase, McLean, or Wade ; Mas- 
sachusetts, Banks; Vermont, Collamer. Greeley, who alone 
was as influential as a State delegation, urged Bates of Mis- 
souri. 

Illinois's task was to unite this opposition on Lincoln. 
She began her work with a next-door neighbor. " The first 
State approached," says Mr. Swett, " was Indiana. She 
was about equally divided between Bates and McLean.* 
Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were spent upon her, when 
finally she came to us, unitedly, with twenty-six votes, and 
from that time acted efficiently with us." 

With Indiana to aid her, Illinois now succeeded in draw- 
ing a few scattering votes, in making an impression on New 
Hampshire and Virginia, and in persuading Vermont to 
think of Lincoln as a second choice. Matters began to look 
decidedly cheerful. May 14 (Monday) the New York 
" Herald's " last despatch declared that the contest had* nar- 
rowed down to Seward, Lincoln, and Wade. The Boston 
*' Herald's " despatch of the same day reported; "' Abe Lin- 
coln is booming up to-night as a compromise candidate, and 
his friends are in high spirits." And this was the situation 
when the convention finally opened on Wednesday. May 16. 

The assembly-room in which the convention met was situ- 



* Mr. Joseph Medill once told the writer that half tlie Indiana dele- 
gation had been won for Lincoln on the ground of availability before 
the convention met. 



48 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



ated conveniently at the corner of Market and Lake Streets. 
It had been built especially for the occasion by the Chicaga 
Republican Club, and in the fashion of the West in that day 
was called by the indigenous name of Wigwam. It was a 
low, characterless structure, fully one hundred and eighty 
feet long by one hundred feet wide. The roof rose in the 
segment of a circle, so that one side was higher than 
the other; and across this side and the two ends were 
deep galleries. Facing the ungalleried side was a plat- 
form reserved for the delegates — a great floor one hundred 
and forty feet long and thirty-live feet deep, raised some four 
feet from the ground level, with committee-rooms at each 
end. This vast structure of pine boards had been rescued 
from ugliness through the energetic efforts of the commit- 
tee, assisted by the Repul)lican women of the city, who, 
scarcely less interested than their husbands and brothers, 
strove in exery way io contribute to the success of the con- 
vention. They wreathed the pillars and the galleries with 

masses of green; hung 




banners 



and 



flags; 



CHAIR OCCUPIED BY THE CHAIRMAN OP 
THE REIMTKMCAN NATIONAL CONVEN- 
TION OF IHtiO. 

It was the first rliair iiinJe in the State of 
Micliif^aii. ReprodiK-eil from " Uarper's 
Weekly" of May 19, IH6(), by permission 
of Messrs. Harper end Brotliers. 



brought in busts of Amer- 
ican notables ; ordered 
great allegorical paintings 
of Justice, Liberty, and 
the like, to suspend on the 
walls; borrowed the 
whole series of Healy por- 
traits of American states- 
men — in short, niade the 
Wigwam at least gay and 
festive in aspect. Foreign 
interest added something 
to the furnishings; the 
chair placed on the plat- 



NOMINATION IN iS6o 34c) 

form for the use of the chairman of the convention was do- 
nated by Michigan, as the first chair made in tliat Stale. 
It was an arm-chair of the most primitive description, tiie 
seat dug out of an immense log and mounted on large rock- 
ers. Another chair, one made for the occasion, attracted a 
great deal of attention. It was constructed of thirty-four 
kinds of wood, each piece from a tlifferent State or Terri- 
tory, Kansas being appropriately represented by the "weep- 
ing willow" a symbol of her grief at being still excluded 
from the sisterhood of States. The gavel used by the chair- 
man was more interesting even than his chair, having been 
made from a fragtnent of Commodore Perrv's brave Lazt'- 
rriuw 

Into the Wigwam, on the morning of the i6th of May, 
there crowded fully ten thousand persons. To the spectator 
in the gallerythe scene was vividly picturesque and animated. 
Around him were packed hundreds of women, gay in the 
high-peaked, flower-filled bonnets and the bright shawls and 
plaids of the day. Below, on the platform and floor, were 
many of the notable men of the United States — \\^illiam M. 
Evarts, Thomas Corwin, Carl Schurz, David Wilmot. Thad- 
deus Stevens, Joshua Giddings, George William Curtis, 
Francis P. Blair and his two sons, Andrew H. Reeder, 
George Ashmun, Gideon Welles, Preston King, Cassius M. 
Clay, Gratz Brown, George S. Boutwell, Thurlow Weed. 
In the multitude the newspaper representatives outnuiril)ered 
the delegates. Fully nine hundred editors and reporters 
were present, a body scarcely less interesting than the con- 
vention itself. Horace Greeley, Samuel Bowles, Murat Hal- 
stead, Isaac H. Bromley, Joseph Medill, Horace White, Jo- 
seph Hawley, Henry Villard, A. K. McClure, names so fa- 
miliar to-day, all represented various journals at Chicago 
':n i860, and in some cases were active workers in the cau- 
cuses. It was evident at once that the members of tlie con- 



350 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

vention — some five hundred out of the attendant ten thousanij 
— were not more interested in its proceedings than the spec- 
tators, whose approval and disapproval, quickly and em- 
phatically expressed, swayed, and to a degree controlled, the 
delegates. Wednesday and Thursday mornings were passed 
in the usual opening work of a convention. While officers 
were formally elected and a platform adopted, the real in- 
terest centred in the caucuses, which were held almost unin- 
terruptedly. Illinois was in a frenzy of anxiety. " No men 
ever worked as our boys did," wrote Mr. Swett; " I did not, 
the whole week, sleep two hours a night." They ran from 
delegation to delegation, haranguing, pleading, promising. 
But do their best they could not concentrate the opposition. 
" Our great struggle," says Senator Palmer, '* was to pre- 
vent Lincoln's nomination for the vice-presidency. The 
Seward men were perfectly willing that he should go on the 
tail of the ticket. In fact, they seemed determined that he 
should be given the vice-presidential nomination. We were 
not troubled so much by the antagonism of the Seward men 
as by the overtures they were constantly making to us. They 
literally overwhelmed us with kindness. Judge David Davis 
came to me in the Tremont House, greatly agitated at the 
way things were going. He said : ' Palmer, you must go 
with me at once to see the New Jersey delegation.' I asked 
what I could do. * Well,' said he, * there is a grave and 
venerable judge over there who is insisting that Lincoln 
shall be nominated for Vice-President and Seward for 
President. We must convince the judge of his mistake.' 
We went; I was introduced to the gentleman, and we 
talked about the matter for some time. He praised Sew- 
ard, but he was especially effusive in expressing his ad- 
miration for Lincoln. He thought that Seward was clearly 
entitled to first place and that Lincoln's eminent merits 
entitled him to second place. I listened for some time, 



NOMINATION IN i860 .ci 

and then said : * Sir, you may nominate Mr. Lincoln 
for Vice-President if you please. But I want you to 
understand that there are 40,000 Democrats in Illinois who 
will support this ticket if you give them an opportunity. We 
are not Whigs, and we never expect to be Whigs. We will 
never consent to support two old Whigs on this ticket. We 
are willing to vote for Mr. Lincoln with a .Democrat on the 
ticket, but we wnll not consent to vote for two Whigs.' 1 
have seldom seen a more indignant man. Turning to Judge 
Davis he said : ' Judge Davis, is it possible that party spirit 
so prevails in Illinois that Judge Palmer properly represents 
public opinion?' ' Oh,' said Davis, affecting some distress 
at what I had said, ' oh. Judge, you can't account for the 
conduct of these old Locofocos.' ' Will they do as Palmer 
says?' 'Certainly. There are 40,000 of them, and, as 
Palmer says, not one of them will vote for two Whigs.' We 
left the New Jersey member in a towering rage. When 
we were back at the Tremont House I said : ' Davis, you 
are an infernal rascal to sit there and hear that man be- 
rate me as he did. You really seemed to encourage him.' 
Judge Davis said nothing, but chuckled as if he had greatly 
enjoyed the joke. This incident is illustrative of the kind 
of work w^e had to do. We were compelled to resort to this 
argument — that the old Democrats then ready to affiliate 
with the Republican party would not tolerate two Whigs on 
the ticket — in order to break up the movement to nominate 
Lincoln for Vice-President. The Seward men recognized 
in Lincoln their most formidable rival, and that was why 
they washed to get him out of the way by giving him second 
place on the ticket." 

The uncertainty on Thursday was harrowing, and if the 
ballot had been taken on the afternoon of that day, as was at 
first intended, Seward probably would have been nominated. 
Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania all felt this, and shrewdly 



352 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

managed to secure from the convention a reluctant adjourn- 
ment until Friday morning. In spite of the time this ma- 
noeuvre gave, however, Seward's nomination seemed sure; 
so Greeley telegraphed the "Tribune" at midnight on Thurs- 
day. At the same hour the correspondent of the " Herald " 
(New York) telegraphed: ''The friends of Seward are 
firm, and claim ninety votes for him on the first ballot. Op- 
position to Seward not fixed on any man. Lincoln is the 
strongest, and may have altogether forty votes. The various 
delegations are still caucusing." 

It was after these messages were sent that Illinois and In- 
diana summoned all their energies for a final desperate effort 
to unite the uncertain delegates on Lincoln, and that Penn- 
sylvania went through the last violent throes of coming to a 
decision. The night was one of- dramatic episodes of 
which none, perhaps, was more nearly tragic than the spec- 
tacle of Seward's followers, confident of success, celebrating 
in advance the nomination of their favorite, while scores of 
determined men laid the plans ultimately effective, for his 
overthrow. All night the work was kept up. " Hundreds 
of Pennsylvanians, Indianians, and Illinoisans," says Murat 
Halstead, " never closed their eyes. I saw Henry S. Lane 
at one o'clock, pale and haggard, with cane under his arm, 
walking as if for a wager from one caucus-room to another 
at the Tremont House. In connection with them he had been 
operating to bring the Vermonters and Virginians to the 
point of deserting Seward." 

In the Pennsylvania delegation, which on Wednesday had 
agreed on McLean as its second choice and Lincoln as its third, 
a hot struggle was waged to secure the vote of the delegation 
as a unit for Cameron until a majority of the tieiegates di- 
rected otherwise. Judge S. Newton Pettis, who proposed 
this resolution, worked all night to secure votes for it at the 
caucus to be held early in the morning. The Illinois men 




o 



O 



o 



Y, 



W 

a: 

H 
ffi 

H Q 

i^ 33 

y, f) 

- < 

y. 

Q 






O 

o 
u 

5 

o 



•5 



w 

03 



NOMINATION IN i860 ^ r ^ 

\f %J %J 

ran from delegate to caucus, from editor to outsider. No 
man who knew Lincoln and believed in him, indeed, was al- 
lowed to rest, but was dragged away to this or that delegate 
to persuade him that the " rail candidate," as Lincoln had 
already begun to be called, was fit for the place. Colonel 
Hoyt, then a resident of Chicago, spent half the night telling 
Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania what he knew of Lin- 
coln. While all this was going on, a committee of twelve men 
from Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Lidiana, Illinois, and 
Iowa were consulting in the upper story of the Tremont 
House. Before their session was over they had agreed that 
in case Lincoln's votes reached a specified number on the 
following day, the votes of the States represented in that 
meeting, so far as these twelve men could effect the result, 
should be given to him. 

The night was over at last, and at ten o'clock the conven- 
tion reassembled. The great Wigwam was packed with a 
throng hardly less excited than the members of the actual 
convention, while without, for blocks away, a crowd double 
that within pushed and strained, every nerve alert to catch 
the movements of the convention. 

The nominations began at once, the Hon. William M. 
Evarts presenting the name of William H. Seward. Tlie 
New Yorkers had prepared a tremendous claque, which now 
broke forth — " a deafening shout which," says Leonard 
Swett, " I confess, appalled us a little." But New York in 
preparing her claque had only given an idea to Illinois. The 
Illinois committee, to offset it, had made secret but complete 
preparations for what was called a " spontaneous demonstra- 
tion." From lake front to prairie the committee had col- 
lected every stentorian voice known, and carl)' iMiday 
morning, while Seward's men were marching exultantly 
about the streets, the owners of these voices had l)een i)ackcd 
into the Wigwam, where their special endowment would be 



354 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

most effective. The women present had been requested to 
wave their handkerchiefs at every mention of Lincoln's 
name, and hundreds of flags had been distributed to be used 
in the same way. A series of signals had been arranged to 
communicate to the thousands without the moment when a 
roar from them might influence the convention within. 
When N. B. Judd nominated Lincoln th's machinery began 
to work. It did well; but a moment later, in greeting the 
seconding of Seward's nomination, New YorR out-bellowed 
Illinois. " Caleb B. Smith of Indiana then seconded the 
nomination of Lincoln," says Mr. Swett, " and the West 
came to his rescue. No mortal ever before saw such a scene. 
The idea of us lioosiers and Suckers being outscreamed 
would have been as bad to them as the loss of their man. 
Five thousand people at once leaped to their seats, women 
not wanting in the number, and the wild yell made soft 
vesper breathings of all that had preceded. No language 
can describe it. A thousand steam whistles, ten acres of 
hotel gongs, a tribe of Comanches, headed by a choice van- 
guard from pandemonium, might have mingled in the scene 
unnoticed." 

As the roar died out a voice cried, "Abe Lincoln has it by 
the sound now; let us ballot!" and Judge Logan, beside 
himself with screeching and excitement, called out: 'Mr. 
President, in (jrder or out of order, I propose this convention 
and audience give three cheers for the man who is evidently 
their nominee." 

The balloting followed without delay. The Illinois men 
believed they had one hundred votes to start with ; on 
counting they found they had 102. More hopeful still, no 
other opposition candidate approached them. Pennsyl- 
vania's man, according to the printed reports of that day, 
had but fifty and one-half votes; Greeley's man, forty-eight; 
Chase, forty-nine; while McLean. Pennsylvania's second 



NOMINATION IN iS6o 355 

choice, had but twelve. If Seward was to be beaten, it must 
be now ; and it was for Pennsylvania to say. The delega- 
tion hurried to a committee-room, where Judge Pettis, dis- 
regarding the action of the caucus by which McLean had 
been adopted as the delegation's second choice, moved thatj 
on the second ballot, Pennsylvania's vote be cast solidly for 
Lincoln. The motion was carried. Returning to the hall 
the delegation found the second ballot under way. In a 
moment the name of Pennsylvania was called. The whole 
Wigwam heard the answer : " Pennsylvania casts her fifty- 
two votes for Abraham Lincoln." The meaning was clear. 
The break to Lincoln had begun. New York sat as if 
stupefied, while all over the hall cheer followed cheer. 

It seemed but a moment before the second ballot was 
ended, and it was known that Lincoln's vote had risen from 
102 to 181. The tension as the third ballot was taken was 
almost unbearable. A hundred pencils kept score while the 
delegations were called, and it soon became apparent that 
Lincoln was outstripping Seward. The last vote was hardly 
given before the whisper went around, '' Two hundred and 
thirty-one and one-half for Lincoln ; two and one-half more 
will give him the nomination." An instant of silence fol- 
lowed, in which the convention grappled with the idea, and 
tried to pull itself together to act. The chairman of the 
Ohio delegation was the first to get his breath. " Mr. Presi- 
dent," he cried, springing on his chair and stretching out 
his arm to secure recognition, " I rise to change four votes 
from Mr. Chase to Mr. Lincoln." 

It took a moment to realize the truth. New York saw it, 
and the white faces of her noble delegation were bowed in 
despair. Greeley saw it, and a guileless smile spread over 
his features as he watched Thurlow Weed press his hand 
hard against his wet eyelids. Illinois sav.^ it, and tears 
poured from the eyes of more than one of the overwrought, 



356 IvlFE OF LINCOLN 

devoted men as they grasped one another's hands and vainly 
struggled against the sobs which kept back their shouts. 
The crowd saw it, and broke out in a mad hurrah, '^ The 
scene which followed," wrote one spectator, " baffles all 
human description. After an instant's silence, as deep as 
death, which seemed to be required to enable the assembly to 
take in the full force of the announcement, the wildest and 
mightiest yell (for it can be called by no other name) burst 
forth from ten thousand voices which we ever heard from 
mortal throats. This strange and tremendous demonstra- 
tion, accompanied with leaping up and down, tossing hats, 
handkerchiefs, and canes recklessly into the air. with the 
waving of flags, and with every other conceivable mode of 
exultant and unbridled joy, continued steadily and without 
pause for perhaps ten minutes. 

" It then began to rise and fall in slow and billowing 
bursts, and for perhaps the next five minutes these stupen- 
dous waves of uncontrollable excitement, now rising into the 
deepest and fiercest shouts, and then sinking like the ground 
swell of the ocean into hoarse and lessening murmurs, rolled 
through the multitude. Every now and then it would seem 
as though the physical power of the assembly was exhausted 
and that quiet would be restored, when all at once a new 
hurricane would break out, more prolonged and terrific than 
anything before. If sheer exhaustion had not prevented, we 
don't know but the applause would have continued to this 
hour." 

Without, the scene was repeated. At the first instant of 
realization in the Wigwam a man on the platform had 
shouted to a man stationed on the roof, " Hallelujah ; Abe 
Lincoln is nominated!" A cannon boomed the news to 
the multitude below, and twenty thousand throats took 
up the cry. The city heard it, and one hundred guns on 
the Tremont House, innumerable whistles on the river and 



NOMINATION IN i860 357 

lake front, on locomotives and factories, and the bells in 
all the steeples, broke forth. For twenty-four hours the 
clamor never ceased. It spread to the prairies, and 
before morning they were afire with pride and excite- 
ment. 

And while all this went on, where was Lincoln? Too 
much of a candidate, as he had told Swett, to go to Chicago, 
yet hardly enough of one to stay away, he had ended by re- 
maining in Springfield, where he spent the week in restless 
waiting and discussion. He drifted about the public square, 
went often to the telegraph office, looked out for every 
returning visitor from Chicago, played occasional games of 
ball, made fruitless efforts to read, went home at unusual 
hours. He felt in his bones that he had a fighting chance, so 
he told a friend, but the chance was not so strong that he 
could indulge in much exultation. By Friday morning he 
was tired and depressed, but still eager for news. One of 
his friends, the Hon. James C. Conkling, returned early in 
the day from Chicago, and Lincoln soon went around to his 
law office. " Upon entering," says Mr. Conkling, " Lincoln 
threw himself upon the office lounge, and remarked rather 
wearily, * Well, I guess I'll go back to practising law.' As 
he lay there on the lounge, I gave him such information as 
I had been able to obtain. I told him the tendencv was to 
drop Seward; that the outlook for him was very encourag- 
ing. He listened attentively, and thanked me, saying I had 
given him a clearer idea of the situation than he had been able 
to get from any other source. He was not very sanguine of 
the result. He did not express the opinion that he would be 
nominated." 

But he could not be quiet, and soon left Mr. Conkling, tc 
join the throng around the telegraph office, where the reports 
from the convention were coming in. The nominationvS 
were being reported, his own among the others. Then new? 



-> 



58 LIFE OF LINCOLN 



came that the balloting had begun. He could not endure to 
wait for the result. He remembered a commission his wife 
had given him that morning, and started across the square to 
execute it. His errand was done, and he was standing in the 
door of the shop, talking, when a shout went up from the 
group at the telegraph office. The next instant an excited 
boy came rushing pell-mell down the stairs of the office, and, 
plunging through the crowd, ran across the square, shouting, 
" Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Lincoln, you are nominated! " The cry 
was repeated on all sides. The people came [locking about 
him, half laughing, half crying, shaking his hand when they 
could get it, and one another's when they could not. For a 
few minutes, carried away by excitement, Lincoln seemed 
simply one of the proud and exultant crowd. Then remem- 
bering what it all meant, he said, " My friends, I am glad to 
receive your congratulations, and as there is a little woman 
down on Eighth street who will be glad to hear the news, you 
must excuse me until I inform her." He slipped away, 
telegram in hand, his coat-tails flying out behind, and strode 
towards home, only to find when he reached there that his 
friends were before him, and that the *' little woman " al- 
ready knew that the honor which for twenty years and more 
she had believed and stoutly declared her husband deserved, 
and which a great multitude of men had sworn to do their 
best to obtain for him, at last had come. 



CHAPTER XX 

THE CAMPAIGN OF 1860. 

Thirty-six hours after Lincoln received the news of 
his nomination, an evening train from Chicago brought 
to Springfield a company of distinguished-looking strangers. 
As they stepped from their coach cannon were fired, rockets 
set off, bands played, and enthusiastic cheering went up from 
a crowd of waiting people. A long and noisy procession ac- 
companied them to their hotel and later to a modest two- 
storied house in an unfashionable part of the town. The 
gentlemen whom the citizens of Springfield received with 
such demonstration formed the committee, sent by the Re- 
publican National Convention to notify Abraham Lincoln 
that he had been nominated as its candidate for the presi- 
dency of the United States. 

The delegation had in its number some of the most distin- 
guished workers of the Republican party of that day : — Mr. 
George Ashmun, Samuel Bowles, and Governor Boutwell 
of Massachusetts, William M. Evarts of New York, Judge 
Kelley of Pennsylvania. David K.Carter of Ohio, Francis P. 
Blair of Missouri, the Hon. Gideon Welles of Connecticut. 
Amos Tuck of New Hampshire, Carl Schurz of Wisconsin. 
Only a few of these gentlemen had ever seen Mr. Lincoln 
and to many of them his nomination had been a bitter dis- 
appointment. 

As the committee filed into Mr. Lincoln's simple home 
there was a sore misgiving in more than one heart, and as 
Mr. Ashmun, their chairman, i)resented to him the letter no- 
tifying him of his nomination they eyed their candidate with 

359 



300 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

critical keenness. They noted his great height ; his huge 
hands and feet ; his pecuHar lankness of Hmb. His shoulders 
drooped as he stood, giving his form a look of irresolution. 
His smooth shaven face seemed of bronze as he listened to 
their message and amazed them by its ruggedness. The 
cheeks were sunken, the cheek bones high, the nose large, 
the mouth unsymmetrical, the under lip protruding a little. 
Irregular seams and lines cut and creased the skin in every 
direction. The eyes downcast as he listened were sunken 
and somber. Shaded by its mass of dark hair, the face gave 
an impression of a sad impenetrable man. 

Mr. Ashmun finished his speech and Mr. Lincoln lifting 
his bent head began to reply. The men who watched him 
thrilled with surprise at the change which passed over him. 
His drooping form became erect and firm. The eyes beamed 
with fire and intelligence. Strong, dignified and self-pos- 
sessed, he seemed transformed by the simple act of self-ex- 
pression. 

His remarks w'ere brief, merely a word of thanks for the 
honor done him, a hint that he felt the responsibility of his 
position, a promise to respond formally in writing and the 
expression of a desire to take each one of the committee by 
hand, but his voice was calm and clear, his bearing frank 
and sure. His auditors saw in a flash that here was a man 
who was master of himself. For the first time they under- 
stood that he whom they had supposed to be little more than 
a loquacious and clever State politician, had force, insight, 
conscience, that their misgivings were vain. " Why, sir, they 
told me he was a rough diamond," said Governor Boutwell 
to one of Lincoln's towaismen, " nothing could have been in 
better taste than that speech." And a delegate who had 
voted against Lincoln in the convention, turning to Carl 
Schurz, said, " Sir, we might have done a more daring thing, 
but we certainly could not have done a better thing," and it 



THE CAMPAIGN OF i860 -,6i 



O' 



was with that feeling that the delegation, two hours later, 
left Mr. Lincoln's home, and it w as that report they carried 
to their constituents. 

But one more formality now remained to complete the 
ceremony of Abraham Lincoln's nomination to the presi- 
dency, — his letter of acceptance. This was soon written. 
The candidates of the opposing parties all sent out letters of 
acceptance in i860 which were almost political platforms in 
themselves. Lincoln decided to make his merely an accei)t- 
ance with an expression of his intention to stand by the 
party's declaration of principles. He held himself rigidly 
to this decision, his first address to the Republican party be- 
ing scarcely one Inuulred and fifty words in length. Though 
so short, it was prepared with painstaking attention. He 
even carried it when it was finished to a Springfield friend, 
Dr. Newton Bateman, the State Superintendent of Educa- 
tion, for correction. 

" Mr. Schoolmaster," he said, " here is my letter of ac- 
ceptance, I am not very strong on grammar and I wish you 
to see if it is all rioht. I wouldn't like to have anv mis- 
takes in it." 

The doctor took the MS. and after reading it, said: 

" There is only one change I should suggest. Air. Lincoln, 
you have written ' It shall be my care to not violate or disre- 
gard it in any part,' you should have written ' not to violate.' 
Never split an infinitive, is the rule." 

Mr. Lincoln took the manuscript, regarding it a moment 
with a puzzled air, " So you think I better put those twt) lit- 
tle fellows end to end, do you?" he said as he made the 
change. 

His nomination an accomplished fact, the all-important 
question for Mr. Lincoln was " can I be elected." Six 
months before when he had asked himself " Can I be nomi- 
nated? " he had been forced tc reply " Not probable." Even 



362 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

the veiy niurning of the nomination he had said despond* 
ently to a friend, " I guess I'll go back to practising law," 
but now when he asked himself " Can I be elected? " the an- 
swer he gave was far from uncertain. With the tables of 
the popular vote since 1856 before him he reckoned his 
chances. Twenty-four States out of the thirty-three which 
then formed the Union had taken part in the Chicago Conven- 
tion. These twenty-four States held 234 of the 303 electoral 
votes to be cast. On how many of tliem could he depend? 
In 1856 the first time the party had appeared in a presiden- 
tial contest it had secured for Fremont eleven States,"^' 114 
electoral votes. On" these Lincoln felt he still could count. 
But that was not enough, nor w^as it all the Republicans 
claimed. The growth of the party had been steady and 
vigorous since 1856. The whole country saw that if the 
Chicago Convention chose a presidential candidate accepta- 
ble to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Illinois, those 
States would certainly go Republican. Lincoln added their 
votes to the 114 of the certain States. It gave him 169 — a 
respectable majority of the 303 which the electoral college 
would cast. 

The tables were in his favor; but that was not all in the 
situation which encouraged him. Lincoln saw that, as his 
nomination in Chicago had been largely the result of dis- 
agreement among the Republicans, so there was a possibility 
of his election being the result of quarrels among the Demo- 
crats. The National Democratic Convention had met in 
Charleston, South Carolina, on April 23. From the open- 
ing, the sessions were stormy. One vital difference divided 
the body. The South was determined that a platform should 
be adopted stating unequivocally that slaves could be car- 



* The states which wont for Frf'imont in 1856 were Connecticut, Iowa 
Maine, Massachusetts. Michitran. New Harnoshire. New York, Ohio 
Rhode Island, Vermont, WJ<'consin. 



THE CAMPAIGN OF i860 363 

ried into the Territories and that neither Congressional nor 
Territorial legislation could interfere with them. The De- 
mocracy of the North was determined to adopt a platform 
in which Douglas's doctrine of popular sovereignty was 
the central plank. The time had heen wlien the South had 
been thoroughly satisfied with the Douglas theory; that it 
was not so now was due largely to Lincoln. He had discov- 
ered that Douglas in presenting his attractive dogma that the 
people of the States should be left to regulate their domestic 
concerns in their own way, subject only to the Constitution, 
gave one interpretation in the South, another in the North. 
Knowing that Illinois would never consent to the doctrine 
as the South understood it, nor the South to the Northern 
notion, Lincoln forced Douglas in 1858 in a debate at Free- 
port, Illinois, to explain his meaning. Illinois was satisfied 
with the explanation, but the South saw the deceit. From 
the day of the Freeport Debate Douglas's power in the 
South declined. When the Charleston Convention met the 
Southern Democrats were fully determined to defeat the 
man who had so nearly persuaded them to a doctrine which 
he interpreted according to the prejudices of the section in 
which he spoke. When a Douglas platform was adopted by 
the convention they withdrew. The upshot of this seces- 
sion was that the two factions called fresh conventions to 
meet in Baltimore in June. There the Northern Democracy 
nominated as its candidates Douglas and Johnson. A few 
days later the Southern Democrats named Breckinridge and 
Lane. 

Thus when Lincoln was nominated his opponents were di- 
vided. The opposition to him was still further weakened by 
the appearance of a sporadic party the CiMistitutional Union 
which in a vague and general platform shirked the very pre- 
cise and vital question at issue and declared finely for " the 
Constitution of the countrv, the Union of the States, and the 



304 I-IF^ OF LINCOLN 

enforcement of the laws." This party nomuiated Bell and 
Everett, known as the " Kangaroo Ticket " because " the 
hind part was the stronger." 

The tables were in his favor. If his own party stood by 
him, he felt sure of his election. There was every sign that 
it would. " So far as I can learn," he wrote his friend 
Washburne a few days after the convention, " the nomina- 
tions start well everywhere; and, if they get no back-set, it 
would seem as if they were going through." 

The " start " of the nominations had in fact been very 
good. Nothing more jubilant could have been conceived 
than the reception given Lincoln's name in the Northwest, 
" There won't be a tar barrel left in Illinois to-night," said 
Douglas, in Washington, to his senatorial friends, who 
asked him wdien the news of tb.e nomination reached them, 
" Who is this man Lincoln, anyhow? " Douglas was right. 
Not only the tar barrels but half the fences of the State 
went up in the fire of rejoicing. 

The demonstrations in the Middle States and in the East 
were hardly less exultant. There was a striking difference 
in them, however. In the Northwest it was the candidate, in 
the rest of the country the platform and the probability of its 
success, which inspired the popular outbursts. And this was 
inevitable, so little was Lincoln known outside of his own 
part of the coimtry. The orators at the ratification meet- 
ings of the East found it necessary to look up his history to 
tell their audiences who he was. The newspapers printed 
biographical sketches, and very meagre ones they were ; for 
up to this time almc^st no details of his life had been pub- 
lished. These facts filled many a serious-minded Republi- 
can with dismay. To them there seemed but one explana- 
tion for the choice of Lincoln oxer the heads of so many more 
experienced and distinguished men — it had been a political 
trick born of the sentiment " Ar-< thing to beat Seward." " I 



THE CAMPAIGN OF i860 



;65 



remember," says a Republican of i860, " that when 1 first 
read the news on a bulletin board as I came down street in 
Philadelphia that I experienced a moment of intense physical 
pain, it was as though some one had dealt me a heavy blow 
over the head, then my strength failed me. I believed our 
cause was doomed." 

The opposition press found in Lincoln's obscurity abundant 
editorial material. He was a " third-rate country lawyer, 
poorer even than poor Pierce," said the New York "Herald." 
Of course, he would be a " nullity " if he were elected. How 
could a man be otherwise who had never done anything but 
deliver a few lectures and get himself beaten by Douglas in 
the campaign of '58. They hooted at his " coarse and clumsy 
jokes," declared that he " could not speak good grammar," 
and that all he was really distinguished for was rail-split- 
ting, running a " broad-horn," and bearing the sobriquet of 
" honest old Abe." The snobbishness of the country came 
out in full. He was not a gentleman; that is, he did not 
know how to wear clothes, perhaps sat at times in shirt 
sleeves, tilted back his chair. He could quote neither Latin 
nor Greek, had never travelled, had no pedigree. 

The Republican press took up the gauntlet. To the charge 
that he w^ould be a " nullity " the " Tribune " replied "A man 
who by his own genius and force of character has raised 
himself from being a penniless and uneducated flat boatman 
on the Wabash River to the position Mr. T>incoln now oc- 
cupies is not likely to be a nullity anywhere." And Bryant 
answered all the sneering by a noble editorial in which he 
claimed Mr. Lincoln to be "A Real Representative Man." 
Nevertheless the eagerness with which the Republican 
press hastened to show that Lincoln was not the coarse back- 
woodsman the Democrats painted him showed how much 
they winced under the charges. Reporters w^ere sent Wes;!- 
to describe his home, his family, and his habits, in order to 



366 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

prove that he did not live in " low Hoosier style." They 
told with great satisfaction that he wore daily a broadcloth 
suit " almost elegant," they described his modest home as a 
" mansion " and " an elegant two-story dwelling " and they 
never failed to note that Mrs. Lincoln spoke French fluently 
and that he had a son in Harvard College. When they could 
with reasonable certainty connect him with the Lincolns of 
Hingham, Mass., they heralded his " good blood " with 
pride and marshalled the Lincolns who had distinguished 
themselves in the history of the country. 

Among the common people the jeers that Lincoln was 
but a rail-splitter was a spur to enthusiasm. Too many 
of the solid men of the North had swung an axe, too many 
of them had passed from log hut to mansion, not to blaze 
with sympathetic indignation when the party was taunted 
with nominating a backwoodsman. The rail became their 
emblem and their rallying cry, and the story of the rail 
fence Lincoln had built a feature of every campaign speech 
and every country store discussion. In a week after his 
nomination two rails declared to have been split by Lincoln 
were on exhibition in New York, and certain zealous Penn- 
sylvanians had sent to Macon, 111., asking to buy the whole 
fence and have it shipped East. It was the rail which deco- 
rated campaign medals, inspired campaign songs, appeared 
in campaign cartoons. There was something more than a 
desire to " stand by the candidate " in the enthusiasm. At 
bottom it was a popular vindication of the American way ot 
making a man. 

More important to Lincoln than any popular enthusiasm 
was the ratification given his nomination by the rival candi- 
dates. What would they do? The whole party held its 
breath until Seward was heard from. No man could have 
taken a crushing defeat more nobly. He was at his liome in 
Auburn, New York, on May i8, the day of the nomination, 



THE CAMPAIGN OF i860 367 

and when the news of Lincoln's success was brought him, 
his informer told him that there was not a Repu])lican to be 
found in town who had the heart left to write an editorial 
for the " Daily Advertiser " approving the nomination. 
Seward smilingly took his pen and wrote the following para- 
graph, which appeared that evening : — 

" No truer exposition of the Republican creed could be 
given, than the platform adopted by the convention con- 
tains. No truer or firmer defenders of the Republican faith 
could have been found in the Union, than the distinguished 
and esteemed citizens on whom the honors of the nomination 
have fallen. Their election, we trust by a decisive majority, 
will restore the Government of the U. S. to its Constitutional 
and ancient course. Let the watch-word of the Republican 
party be ' Union and Liberty,' and onward to victory." 

A few days later Seward went to Washington where a 
number of disappointed and rebellious Republicans called 
upon him to offer their condolence. " Mr. Seward," they 
said, " we cannot accept this situation. We want you to 
bolt the nomination and run on an independent ticket." 

Mr. Seward smiled: "Gentlemen," he said, "your zeal 
outruns your discretion. There are many of you giving this 
advice now, say perhaps three hundred. Two weeks hence 
there would be one hundred and fifty and the next week fifty. 
After that only William H. Seward. No, gentlemen, the 
Republican party was not made for William H. Seward, but 
Mr. Seward, if he is worth anything for the Republican 
party, and I believe I have still work to do, I must therefore 
decline to accept your advice. I have had some experience 
of this kind. I ran once as a candidate for the nomination 
to the governorship of New York; I was defeated; my 
friends wanted me to bolt and run independently, but I de- 
clined. My opponent who had received the nomination, was 
defeated in the election. I would have been defeated. 



368 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Another year I did receive the nomination and I was elected, 
but if I had consented in the first place to bolt the regular 
nominee I would never have received the nomination regu- 
larly a second time and so would never have been Governor 
of New York."* 

Seward wrote Lincoln very soon congratulating him and 
promising support. So did the other leading rivals. The 
letters were grateful to Lincoln. " Holding myself the hum- 
blest of all those whose names were before the convention," 
he wrote Chase, " I feel in special need of the assistance of 
all ; and I am glad — very glad — of the indication that you 
stand ready." 

With these congratulations and promises of support from 
his rivals came others from men not less known. Joshua 
Giddings wrote Lincoln an admirable letter on May 19 : 

" Dear Lincoln : You're nominated. You will be elected. 
After your election, thousands will crowd around you, claim- 
ing rewards for services rendered. I, too, have my claims 
upon you. I have not worked for your nomination, nor for 
that of any other man. 1 liave labored for the estabhshment 
of principles ; and when men came to me asking my opinion 
of you, I only told them, ' Lincoln is an honest man.' All 
I ask of you in return for my services is, make my statement 
good through your administration. Yours, Giddings.'' 

Lincoln soon saw that not only the strong men of his party 
were supporting him, but that they were working harmoni- 
ously in an excellent organization. The RepubHcans all 
agreed with the " Tribune " that " l!ie election of Mr. Lin- 
coln though it could not be accomplished without work, was 
eminently a thing that could be done," and they set themselves 
vigorously to do it. As the partv was composed largely of 
young men who felt that the cause was worthy of their best 

*The Hon. H. L. Dawes in interview corrected by him and published 
with his permission. 



THE CAMPAIGN OF iSGo 369 

efforts, great zest and ingenuity were thrown into the cam- 
paigning. Arrangements were immediatel\- made for a sys- 
iematic stumping of the whole country. The speakers en- 
gaged were of a very high order, among them being Sum- 
ner, Seward, Chase, Cassius JNI. Clay, Greeley, Stevens. 
Many of the speeches were of more than usual dramatic in- 
terest. Such was Sumner's great speech at Cooper Institute, 
July II, on " The Origin, Necessity and Permanence of the 
Republican Party." It was the first speech Sumner had made 
in public since the attack on him in the Senate in 1856, and 
attracted immense attention. Seward made a five weeks' trip 
through the West, often speaking several times a day. No 
one worked harder than Carl Schurz. " I began speaking 
shortly after the convention," Mr. Schurz once told the 
author, " and continued until the day of the election, mak- 
ing from one to three speeches, with the exception of 
about ten days in September when I was so fatigued that I 
had to stop for a little while. I spoke in both English and 
German, under the auspices of the National Committee and 
not only in the larger towns, but frequently also in country 
districts." No speaker of the campaign touched the people 
more deeply. " Young, ardent, aspiring," said the New 
York "' Evening Post," in speaking of Mr. Schurz, " the ro- 
mances connected with his life and escape from his father- 
land, his scholarly attainments, and, above all, his devotion 
to the principles which cast him an exile on our shores. ha\e 
all combined to render him dear to the hearts of his country- 
men and to place him in the foremost rank of their leaders." 
Beside this educational work on the stum]) was that by 
pamphlets. After the campaign lives of Lincoln and Ham- 
lin, of which there were many,* the *' campaign tracts " is- 



* On May 19, the day after the nominations were made, five different 
lives of Lincohi were announced by the New York " Evening Post." 
The first to appear was the Wigwam Edition, which was. ready at the 



370 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

sued by the " Tribune " were the most widely circulated docu' 
ments. There were several of these, the most popular being 
Carl Schurz's speech on the Doom of Slavery, and Seward's 
on the Irrepressible Conflict. There was at the same time, 
of course, an immense amount done in the press, and much 
of it by the ablest literary men the United States has pro- 
duced, thus Lowell wrote essays for the "Atlantic," Whittier 
verses for the " Tribune " and the " Atlantic," Bryant, Gree- 
ley, Raymond, Bowles editorials for their journals. 

The Republican campaign of i860 had one distinguishing 
feature, — the Wide Awakes, bands of torch-bearers who in 
a simple uniform of glazed cap and cape, and carrying col- 
ored lanterns or blazing coal-oil torches, paraded the streets 
of almost every town of the North throughout the summer 
and fall, arousing everywhere the wildest enthusiasm. Their 
origin was purely accidental. In February, Cassius M. Clay 
spoke in Hartford, Connecticut. A few ardent young Re- 
publicans accompanied him as a kind of body guard, and to 
save their garments from the dripping of the torches a few 
of them wore improvised capes of black glazed cambric. The 
uniform attracted so much attention that a campaign club 
formed in Hartford soon after adopted it. This club called 
itself the Wide-A wakes. Other clubs took up the idea, and 
soon there were Wide-Awakes drilling regularly from one 
end of the North to the other. 

A great many fantastic movements were invented by them, 
a favorite one being a peculiar zig-zag march — an imita- 



beginning of June. The best were those by W. D. Howells and David 
W. Bartlett. 

The Illinois " State Journal" of June 5, i860, quoted a paragraph from 
the Cincinnati " Commercial" to the effect that " it is stated that there 
have already been fifty-two applications to Mr. Lincoln to write hii 
biography." 

The "Journal" of June 15, i860, said that none of the numerous biog- 
raphies announced by publishers as "authorized" or the "only author- 
ized" has been in fact authorized by Mr. Lincoln. "He is ignorant oi 
their contents and is not responsible for anvthintj they contain." 



THE CAMPAIGN OF i860 371 

tion of the party emblem — the rail-fence. Numbers of the 
clubs adopted the rules and drills of the Chicago Zouaves — 
one of the most popular military organizations of the day. 
In the summer of i860 Colonel Ellsworth, the commanding 
officer of the Zouaves, brought them East. The Wide- 
Awake movement was greatly stimulated by this tour of the 
Zouaves. 

Almost all of the clubs had their peculiar badges, Lincoln 
splitting rails or engineering a flat-boat being a favorite dco >- 
ration for them. There were many medals worn as well. 
Many of these combined business and politics adroitly, the 
obverse advising you to " vote for the rail-splitter," the re- 
verse to buy somebody's soap, or tea, or wagons. 

Many of the clubs owned Lincoln rails which were given 
the place of honor on all public occasion and the " Origin- 
als,'' as the Hartford Wide-Awakes were called, possessed 
the identical maul with which Lincoln had split the rails for 
the famous fence. It had been secured in Illinois together 
with such weighty credentials that nobody could dispute its 
claim, and was the pride of the club. It still is to be seen in 
Hartford occupying a conspicuous place in the collection of 
the Connecticut Historical Society. 

Campaign songs set to familiar airs were heard on every 
hand. Many of these never had more than a local vogue, 
but others were sung generally. One of the most ringing 
was E. C. Stedman's " Honest Abe of the West," sung to 
the air of " The Star Spangled Banner " : 

"Then on to the holy Republican st'-ife! 

And again, for a future as fair as the morning. 
For the sake of that freedom more precious than life, 

Ring out the grand antlieni of T.il)erty's warning! 
Lift the banner on high, while from mountain and plain. 

The cheers of tlie people are sounded again; 
Hurrah ! for our cause— of all causes the best ! 
Hurrah! for Old Abe, Honest Abe of the Westl" 



3/2 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

One of the campaign songs which will never be forgotten 
was Whittier's '' The Quakers Are Out: — " 

"Give the flags to the w.inds! 

Set the hills all aflame ! 
Make way for the man with 

The Patriarch's name ! 
Away with misgivings — away 

With all doubt, 
For Lincoln goes in when the 

Quakers are cut ! " 

In many of the States great rallies were held at centra! 
points, at which scores of Wide-Awake clubs and a dozen 
popular speakers were present. The most enthusiastic of all 
these was held in Mr. Lincoln's own home, Springfield, on 
August 8. Fully 75,000 people gathered for the celebration, 
by far the greater number coming across the prairies on 
horseback or in wagons. A procession eight miles long filed 
by Mr. Lincoln's door. 

Mr. E. B. Washburne, who was with Mr. Lincoln in 
Springfield that day, says of this mass meeting : 

" It was one of the most enormous and impressive gath- 
erings I had ever witnessed. Mr. Lincoln, surrounded by 
some intimate friends, sat on the balcony of his humble 
home. It took hours for all the delegations to file before 
him, and there was no token of enthusiasm wanting. He 
was deeply touched by the manifestations of personal and 
political friendships, and returned all his saltitations in that 
off-hand and kindly manner which belonged to him. I know 
of no demonstration of a similar character that can com- 
pare with it except the review by Napoleon of his army for 
the invasion of Russia, about tlie same season of the year in 
1812." 

From May until November this work for the ticket went 
on steadily and ardently. Mr. Lincoln during all this time 
remained quietly in Springfield. The conspicuous position 
in which he was placed made almost no di^^^rence in his sim- 



THE CAMPAIGN OF iS6o 373 

pie life. He was the same genial, accessible, modest man as 
ever, his habits as unpretentious, his friendliness as great. 
The chief outward change in his daily round was merely one 
of quarters. It seemed to his friends that neither his home 
nor his dingy law office was an appropriate place in which 
to receive his visitors and they arranged that a room in the 
State House which stood on the village green in the centre 
of the town, be put at his disposal. He came down to this 
office every morning about eight o'clock, always stopping 
on his way in his old cordial fashion to ask the news or ex- 
change a story when he met an acquaintance. Frequently 
he went to the post-office himself before going to his office 
and came out his arms loaded with letters and papers. 

He had no regular hours for visitors; there was no cere- 
mony for admittance to his presence. People came when 
they would. Usually they found the door open ; if it was not, 
it was Mr. Lincoln's own voice which answered, " come in," 
to their knock. These visitors were a strange medley of the 
curious, the interested and the friendly. Many came simply 
to see him, to say they had shaken hands with him; 
numbers to try to find out what his policy would be if elected; 
others to wish him success. All day long they filed in and 
out leaving him some days no time for his correspondence, 
which every day grew larger. He seemed never to be in a 
hurry, never to lose patience, however high his table was 
piled with mail, however closely his room was crowded 
with visitors. He even found time to gi\e frequent sittings 
to the artists sent from various parts of the country to i)aint 
his portrait. Among those who came in the summer after 
the nomination were Berry, of Boston ; Hicks, of New York ; 
Conant, of St. Louis; Wright, of Mobile; Brown, and At- 
wood, of Philadelphia; Jones, of Cincinnati. Mr. Lincoln 
took the kindliest interest in these men, and later when Presi- 
dent did more than one of them a friendly turn; thus in 



374 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

March, 1865 he wrote to Seward in regard to Jones and 
Piatt, that he had " some wish " that they might have " some 
of those moderate sized consulates which facilitate artists a 
little in tlieir profession." They in their turn never forgot 
him. Sitting over their easels by the hour in the corner of 
his office assigned them they got many glimpses into the 
man's great heart, and nowhere do we get pleasanter pic- 
tures of Mr. Lincoln in this period than from their journals. 
To those who observed Mr. Lincoln closely as he received 
his visitors one thing was apparent : he always remained 
master of the interview. While his visitors told him a great 
deal, they learned nothing from him which he did not wish to 
give. The following observations, published in the Illinois 
" State Journal " in November, i860, illustrate very well 
what happened almost every day in his office : 

" While talking to two or three gentlemen and standing 
up, a very hard looking customer rolled in and tumbled into 
the only vacant chair and the one lately occupied by Mr. Lin- 
coln. Mr. Lincoln's keen eye took in the fact, but gave no 
evidence of the notice. Turning around at last he spoke to 
the odd specimen, holding out his hand at such a distance 
that our friend had to vacate the chair if he accepted the 
proffered shake. Mr. Lincoln quietly resumed his chair. It 
was a small matter, yet one giving proof more positively than 
a larger event of that peculiar way the man has of mingling 
w ith a mixed crowd. 

" He converses fluently on all subjects, illustrates every- 
thing by a merry anecdote, of which article he has an abun- 
dant supply. I said on all subjects. lie does not talk poli- 
tics. He passes from that gracefully the moment it is intro- 
duced. Hundreds seek him every week to get his opinion 
on this or that subject. He has a jolly way of disposing of 
that matter by saying, ' Ah ! you haven't read my speeches. 
Let me make you a present of my speeches.' And the earnest 
inquirer finds himself the happy possessor of some old docu- 
ments." 




LlMiil.N IN i860 

From an ambrotype taken in Springfield, Illinois, on August 13, 1800, and 
bought by Mr. William H. Lambert from Mr. W. P. Brown of Philadelphia. 
Mr. Brown writes of the portrait : "This picture, along with another one of the 
same kind, was presented by President Lincoln to my father, J. Henry Brown, 
deceased (miniature artist), after he had finished painting Lincoln's picture on 
ivory, at Springfield, Illinois. The commission was given my father by .Judge 
Read (John M. Read of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania), immediately 
after Lincoln's nomination for the presidency. One of the ambrotypes I sold 
to the Historical Society of Boston, Massachusetts, and it is now in their pos- 
session." The miniature referred to is now owned \>y Mr. Robert T. Lincoln. 
It was engraved by Samuel Sartain, and circulated widely before the inaugura- 
tion. After Mr. Lincoln grew a beard, Sartain put a beard on his plate, and 
the engraving continued to sell extensively. 



THE CAMPAIGN OF :86© 375 

Among his daily visitors there were usually men of emi- 
nence from North and South. He received them all with per- 
feet simplicity and always even on his busiest days, four.d a 
moment to turn away from them to greet old friends who 
had known him when he kept grocery in New Salem or acie<l 
as deputy-surveyor of Sangamon County. One day as he 
talked to a company of distinguished strangers an old lady 
in a big sun-bonnet, heavy boots and short skirts walked into 
the office. She carried a package wrapped in brown paper 
and tied with a white string. As soon as Mr. Lincoln saw 
her he left the group, went to meet her and, shaking her hand 
cordially, inquired for her " folks." After a moment the 
old lady opened her package and taking out a pair of coarse 
wool socks she handed them to him. " I wanted to give you 
sornethin', Mr. Linkin," she said, " to take to Washington, 
and that's all I hed. I spun that yarn and knit them socks 
myself." Thanking her warmly, ifir. Lincoln took the socks 
and holding them up by the toes, one in each hand, he turned 
to the astonished celebrities and said in a voice full of kindly 
amusement, " The lady got my latitude and longitude about 
right, didn't she, gentlemen ? " 

The old lady w^as not the only one, however, wdio gave Mr. 
Lincoln " something to carry to Washington." From the 
lime of his nomination gifts poured in on him. Many of 
these came in the form of wearing apparel. Mr. George Lin- 
coln, of Brooklyn, wdio in January carried a handsome silk 
hat to the President-elect, the gift of a New York hatter, says 
that in receiving the hat, Mr. Lincoln laughed heartily over 
the gifts of clothing and remarked to Mrs. Lincoln : 

" Well, wife, if nothing else comes out of this scrape, we 
are going to have some new clothes, are we not? " 

To those who observed Mr. Lincoln superficially in this 
period, it might have seemed that he was doing nothing of 
any value to himself or to his party. Certainly he was taking 



375 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

no active part in the campaign. He was making no speeches 
— writing no letters — giving no interviews. This policy of 
silence he had adopted at the outset. The very nighu of his 
nomination his townspeople in serenading him had called for 
a speech. Standing in the doorway of his house he said to 
them that he did not suppose the honor of such a visit was 
intended particularly for himself as a private citizen, but 
rather as the representative of a great party; that as to his 
position on the political questions of the day he could only 
refer them to his previous speeches, and he added : — " Fel- 
low citizens and friends : The time comes upon every pub- 
lic man, when it is best for him to keep his lips closed. That 
time has come upon me." When in August the monster 
mass meeting was held in Springfield every effort was made 
to persuade Mr. Lincoln to speak. All he would consent to 
do was to appear and in a few words excuse himself. Up to 
the time he left for Washington to be inaugurated, he kept 
his resolve. 

Nor would he write letters explaining his position, or de- 
fending himself. So many letters were received asking his 
political opinion that he found it necessary soon after his 
nomination to prepare the following form of reply to be 
sent out by his secretary : 

" Dear Sir : Your letter to Mr. Lincoln of , and by 

which you seek to obtain his opinions on certain political 
points, has been received by him. lie has received others 
of a similar character, l)ut he also has a greater number of 
the exactly opposite character. The latter class beseech him 
to write nothing whatever upon any point of political doc- 
trine. They say his positions were well known when he was 
nominated, and that he must not nnw embarrass the canvass 
by undertaking to shift or modify them. ] ie regrets that he 
cannot oblige all, but y^,>u perceive it is im[)ossible for him to 
do so. Yours, etc., 

"Jno. G. Nicolay/* 



THE CAMPAIGN OF iS6o 377 

To one gentleman who asked liim to write something cHs- 
claiming all intention to interfere with sUues or shu'ery in 
the States, he repHed, " I have already done this many many 
times; and it is in print and open to all who will read. 
Those who will not read or heed what I ha\e already pub- 
licly said would not read or heed a repetition of it. If they 
hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be per- 
suaded though one rose from the dead." 

And to another correspondent who suggested that he set 
forth his conservative views, he wrote: — 

***" I will not forbear from doing so merely on punctilio 
and pluck. If I do finally abstain, it will be because of ap- 
prehension that it would do harm. For the good men of the 
South — and I regard the majority of them as such — I have 
no objection to repeat seventy and seven times. But I have 
bad men to deal with, both Nortli and South ; men who are 
eager for something new upon which to base new misrepre- 
sentations ; men who would like to frighten me, or at least 
to fix upon me the character of timidity and cowardice. They 
would seize upon almost any letter I could write as being an 
* awful coming down.' I intend keeping my eye upon these 
gentlemen, and to not unnecessarily put any weapons in thei^^ 
hands." 

Nor would he defend himself against the " campaign sto- 
ries " which appeared in numbers. One of which his enemies 
made much was that he had received two hundred dollars for 
the Cooper Union speech in February, i860. They claimed 
that as it was a political speech it was contrary to political 
etiquette to accept pay. Lincoln explained the affair in a let- 
ter to a gentleman who had been disturbed by it and added : — 

" I have made this explanation to you as a friend, but I 
wish no explanation made to our enemies. \Miat they want 
is a squabble and a fuss, and that they can have if we ex- 
plain ; and they cannot have it if we don't." 



-1 



yS LIFE OF LINCOLN 



Another foolish tale which caused Lincoln's partisans un- 
rest was that when he was a memher of Congress he had 
charged several pairs of boots to his stationery account and 
that they had been paid for out of public funds. One of Lin- 
coln's friends took the trouble to examine the stationery 
account for the Thirtieth Congress and to publish a certified 
denial of the story. 

Lincoln's silence and inactivity were merely external. As 
a matter of fact no one was busier than he. No one was fol- 
lowing more intently and thoughtfully the gradual develop- 
ment of the situation and the daily liuctuation of opinion. 
By correspondence, from the press, through his visitors many 
of whom came to Springfield at his request, he kept himself 
informed of how the campaign was going from Maine to 
California. Whenever he feared a break in the ranks he put 
in a word of warning or of advice. He warned Thurlow 
Weed that Douglas was " managing the Bell element with 
great adroitness." He cautioned Hannibal Hamlin against 
a break the latter feared in Maine, " Such a result as you 
seem to predict in Maine " — he wrote, " would, I fear, 
put us on the down-hill track, lose us the State elections in 
Pennsylvania and Indiana, and probably ruin us on the main 
turn in November." While he gave the strictest attention 
to the progress of the elections all over the country, he man- 
aged to keep above local issues and to hold himself aloof 
from the personal contests and rivalries within the party. 

In fact Lincoln kept in perfect touch with the progress of 
his party from May to November and was able to say at any 
time with accuracy just what his chances were in each State. 
He seems at no time to have had any serious fear that he 
would be defeated. 

There was a tragic side to this very certainty of election 
which Lincoln felt deeply. In the Convention which had 
nominated him, nine States of the Union had not been rep- 



THE CAMPAIGN OP i860 



379 



resented. If he should be elected these States would have 
had no voice in his choice. He knew that he was pledged 
to a platform whose principles these States stigmatized as 
" deception and fraud/' and that if elected he must deny 
what they claimed as rights. He knew that in at least one 
State, Alabama, the legislature two months before his nomi- 
nation had pledged itself by an almost unanimous vote in case 
of his election to call a convention to consider wdiat should 
be done for " the protection of their rights, interests and 
lionor." He knew that numbers of influential Southern men 
A\erc repeating daily with Wm. L. Yancey, " I want the 
cotton states precipitated in a revolution," or declaring with 
ivlr. Crawford of Georgia, " We will never submit to the in- 
auguration of a Black Republican President." 

From May to November he watched anxiously for every 
sign that the South was preparing to make good the threats 
with which its orators were inflaming their audiences, which 
a hostile press reiterated day by day, which teemed in his 
mail, and which brought scores of timorous men to Spring- 
field to advise and warn him. How serious was it all ? He 
did his utmost to discover ; even writing in October to Major 
David Hunter to find out how much truth there was in the 
report of disaffection in a Western fort : " I have a letter 
from a writer unknown to me," he said, " saying the ofti- 
cers of the army at Fort Kearney have determined, in case of 
Republican success, at the approaching presidential election, 
to take themselves, and the arms at that point. South, for 
the purpose of resistance to the government. While I think 
there are many chances to one that this is a humbug", it oc- 
curs to me that any real mo\ement of this sort in the army 
would leak out and become known to you. In such case, if 
It would not be unprofessional, or dishonorable (of which 
jou are to be judge), I shall be much obliged if you wdll ap- 
prise me of it." 



38o LIFE OF LINCOLN 

In spite of all that Lincoln knew of the temper of the 
South, in spite of his close study of events there through the 
summer of i860, he did not believe secession probable. " The 
people of the South have too much good sense and good tem- 
per to attempt the ruin of the government rather than see it 
administered as it was administered by the men who made 
it. At least so I hope and believe," he wrote a correspondent 
in August. And in September he said to a visitor, " There 
are no real disunionists in the country." 

There were reasons for this confidence. In every State 
of the South there was a Union party working to meet the 
crisis which Lincoln's election was sure to produce; many of 
the members sent him cheering letters. In acknowledging 
such a letter in August, Lincoln wrote : " It contains one 
of the many assurances I receive from the South, that in no 
probable event will there be any very formidable effort to 
break up the Union." 

Then, too, Lincoln had heard this threat of secession for 
so long that he had grown slightly indifferent to it. He re- 
membered that in the Fremont campaign it had been em- 
ployed with even more violence than now. Again in 1858 
the clamor of disunion had risen. He believed that now 
much of the noise about disunion was merely political, raised 
bythefriends of Breckenridge, Douglas, or Bell, to drive vot- 
ers from him. The leading men of the party sustained Lin- 
coln in this belief. Seward and Schurz both confidently as- 
sured Republicans in their speeches that they might vote for 
Lincoln without fear, and Bryant, in the " Evening Post," 
laughed at the " conservative distresses " of those who sup- 
posed that Lincoln's election would cause secession and war; 
reminding them that when Jefferson was a candidate it was 
said his election would '' let loose the flood-gates of French 
Jacobinism " and that Henry Clay had declared that " noth- 
ing short of universal commercial ruin " would follow Jack- 




LINCOLN HOME, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS. 

From photograph by A.J.Whipple of Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Lincoln and one ol 
is sons stand inside the fence. The Lincoln residence in SpriuKtield was purchased by Mr. 
incoln from the Rev. Charles Dresser in 1814. It was built by Mr. Dresser in 1839. Origin- 
lly it was a story and a half in height; it was painted white, witii green window blinds and 
'hite chimneys. Though now near the centre, it stood at the time of its purchase by Lin- 
3ln, on the very outskirts of the place. For many years after Mr. Lincoln moved away in 
!61, it was occupied by numerous and often indifferent tenants. It was vacant m.uch of the 
me. In 1883 Captain O. H. Oldroyd, now of Washington, D. C, rented the house and threw 
pen its doors to the public. He maintained it at his own expense until 1887, when the State 
f Illinois, by the gift of Robert Lincoln, became owner of the place, and appointed Captaia 
ildroyd its first custodian. It has since been open to the public. 



THE CAMPAIGN OF i860 381 

son*s election, Lincoln was sustained not only by the as- 
surances of the Union party of the South and by the buoyant 
hopefulness of the Republicans of the North, he had a power- 
ful moral support in his own conviction that no matter what 
effort the South made to secede the North could and would 
prevent it. He was and had been for years perfectly clear 
on this subject. In the Fremont campaign he had said in 
reply to the threat of disunion, " No matter what our griev- 
ance — even though Kansas shall come in as a slave State; 
and no matter what theirs — even if we shall restore the com- 
promise — we will say to the Southern disunionists we w^on't 
go out of the Union and you shan't." 

It was then with the belief that he was going to be elected 
and that while his election would produce a serious uproar in 
the South, that no successful resistance would follow, that 
Lincoln approached election day. He had grown materially 
in the estimation of the country in the interval between May 
and November. Many of the leading men of his party who 
had deplored his nomination had come to believe him a wise, 
strong man. Those who sought personal interviews with 
him, and they were many, went home feeling like Thurlow 
Weed who, heart-sick over Seward's defeat and full of 
distrust, not to say contempt, of Lincoln's ability, visited 
him soon after the nomination at the earnest request of David 
Davis and Leonard Swett. " I found Mr, Lincoln," wrote 
Weed afterward, " sagacious and practical. He displayed 
throughout the conversation so much good sense, such intu- 
itive knowledge of human nature, and such familiarity with 
the virtues and infirmities of politicians, that I l^ecame im- 
pressed very favorably with his fitness for the duties which 
he was not unlikely to be called upon to discharge. This 
conversation lasted some five hours, and w lien the train ar- 
rived in which we were to depart. I rose all the better pre- 
pared to * go to work with a will ' in favor of Mr. Lincoln's. 



zS>2 LIFE OF LINCOLN 



J 



election, as the interview had inspired me with confidence in 
his capacity and integrity." . . . 

In the very South where a fury of prejudice had burst 
and where, as was to be expected, Lincohi was popularly 
regarded as an odious and tyrannical monster, much as later 
the North regarded Jefferson Davis, there were signs that he 
was at least considered honest in his views. 

" It may seem strange to you," wrote a Kentuckian, who 
was quoted by the New York " Evening Post," August 17, 
i860, " but it is nevertheless true that the South looks for 
the election of Lincoln by the people and would prefer him to 
Douglas. Our most ultra Southern men seem to respect 
him and to have confidence in his honesty, fairness and con- 
servatism. They concede that he stands on a moderate plat- 
form, that his antecedents are excellent, and that he is not 
likely to invade the rights of any one ; but they can't go for 
him because he holds opinions relative to the rights oi 
slavery in the Territories directly opposite to the Southern 
view, still he is an open and candid opponent, and therefore 
commands Southern respect." 

" Some of the most interesting interviews which Mr. Lin- 
coln has had," wrote some one to the Baltimore " Patriot," 
"have been with extreme Southern gentlemen, who came 
full of prejudice against him, and who left satisfied with his 
loyalty to all the constitutional rights of the South. I could 
tell you of some most interesting cases, but it is enough to 
know that the general sentiment of all Southern men who 
have conversed with him is the same as that i)ui)Hcly ex- 
pressed by Mr. Goggin, of Virginia; Mr. Perry, of South 
Carolina; Mv. McRae, of North Carolina, and many others, 
who have not hesitated to avow their intention of accepting 
Mr. Lincoln's election and holding him to the constitutional 
discharge of the presidential office. . - ." 

The most significant element in the estimate of Lincoln 
which the country formed betw ccn May and November was 
the respect and affection which was awakened among the 



THE CAMPAIGN OF iSi6o 2>^- 

common people. There sprang up all ovei the country 
among plain people a feeling for him nut unlike that which 
had long existed in Illinois. The general distribution made 
of his speeches had something to do with this. There was 
published in i860 in Columbus, Ohio, an edition of the Lin- 
coln and Douglas debates of 1858, which was used freely 
as a campaign document. Lincoln himself gave away scores 
of these books to his friends and to persons who came to him 
begging for an expression of his views. To-day copies bear- 
ing his autograph are to be seen, treasured volumes in the 
libraries of many public men. The Cooper Union speech 
was published by the Young Men's Republican Club of New 
York and circulated widely. To the hard-working farmer, 
mechanic, store-keeper, who thought slowly but surely, and 
whose sole political ambition was to cast an honest vote, 
these speeches were like a personal face-to-face talk. The 
argument was so clear, the illustration so persuasive, the 
statement so colloquial and natural, that they could not get 
away from them. " Lincoln's right," was the general verdict 
among masses of people who, hesitating between Republican- 
ism and Popular Sovereignty, read the speeches as a help to 
a decision. 

While Lincoln's speeches awakened respect for and con- 
fidence in his ability, the story of his life stirred something 
deeper in men. Here was a man who had become a leader 
of the nation by the labor of his hands, the honesty of his 
intellect, the uprightness of his heart. Plain people were 
touched by the hardships of this life so like their own, in- 
spired by the thought that a man who had struggled as they 
had done, who had remained poor, who had lived simply, 
could be eligible to the highest place in the nation. Tl'iey 
had believed that it could be done. Here was a proof of it. 
They told the story to their boys. This, they said, is what 
American institutions make possible; not glitter or wealth, 



o34 i-If'E OF LINCOLN 

trickery or demag-ogy is necessary, only honesty, hard 
thinking, a fixed purpose. Affection and sympathy for Lin- 
coln grew with respect. It was the beginning of that pecu- 
liar sympathetic relation between him and the common peo- 
ple which was to become one of the controlling influences 
in the great drama of the Civil War. 

Election day in i860 fell on the 6th. Springfield, although 
a town of strong Democratic sympathy, realized the import- 
ance of the occasion, and by daylight was booming away with 
cannon; before noon numbers of bands which came, the citi- 
zens hardly knew from where, were playing on the corners 
of every street. Mr. Lincoln, as was his custom, came down 
to his room at the State House by eight o'clock, where he 
went over his big mail as coolly as if it were not election day 
and he a candidate for the presidency of the United States. 
He had not been there long before his friends began to flock 
in in such numbers that it was proposed that the doors be 
closed and he be allowed to remain by himself, but he said 
he had never done such a thing in his life as to close the 
door on his friends and that he did not intend to begin now, 
and so the day wore away in the entertainment of visitors. 

It had not been Mr. Lincoln's intention to vote, the ob- 
stacle which he found in the way being that his own name 
headed the Republican ticket and that he did not want to 
vote for himself. One of his friends suggested that his 
name might be cut off and he vote for the rest of the ticket. 
He fell in with this suggestion, and late in the afternoon, 
when the crowd around the polls, which were just across 
the street from his office, had subsided somewhat, he went 
over to cast his ballot. He was recognized immediately and 
his friends were soon about him, cheering wildly and con- 
tending good-naturedly for an opportunity to shake his hand. 
Even the Democrats, with their hands full of documents 
which they were distributing, joined in this enthusiastic 



THE CAMPAIGN OF i860 3S5 

demonstration and cheered at the top of their voices for their 
beloved townsman. 

No returns were expected before seven o'clock, antl it was 
a little later than that when Mr. Lincoln returned from his 
supper to the State House. The first despatches that came 
were from different parts of Illinois, the very first being from 
Decatur, where a Republican gain was announced. Soon 
after, Alton, which was expected to go for Douglas, sent in 
a majority of twelve for Lincoln. There was a tremendous 
sensation in the company, and Mr. Lincoln asked that the 
despatch be sent out to the "boys," meaning the crowd whicii 
had gathered in and about the State House. After an hour 
or more news began to come from Missouri. " Now," said 
Mr. Lincoln, " they should get a few licks back at us." But 
to everybody's surprise, there was more good news from Mis- 
souri than had been expected. Tow'ards midnight news be- 
gan to come from Pennsylvania: "Allegheny County, 10,- 
000 majority for Lincoln;" " Philadelphia, 15,000 plurality, 
5,000 majority over all;" then a telegram from Simon Cam- 
eron, " Pennsylvania 70,000 for you. New York safe. 
Glory enough." This was the first news from New York, 
and since ten o'clock the company had been waiting impa- 
tiently for it. A fusion ticket, it was feared, might go 
through there, and if it did the disaster to the Republicans 
would be serious. 

While waiting anxiously for something definite from New 
York, a delegation of Springfield ladies came in to invite 
Mr. Lincoln and his friends to a hall near In', where they 
had prepared refreshments for all the Republican politicians 
of the town. The party had not been there long before there 
came a telegram announcing that New York city had gone 
Republican. Such a cheering was probably never heard in 
Springfield before. The hall full of people, beside them- 
selves with joy, began a romping promenade around the 
(35) 



3S6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 



tables, singing at the top of their voices the popular cam- 
paign song, " Oh ain't you glad you joined the Republi- 
cans?" Here at intervals further telegrams came from New 
York, all announcing large majorities. The scene became 
one of the wildest excitement, and Mr. Lincoln and his 
friends soon withdrew to a little telegraph office on the 
square, where they could receive reports more quietly. Up 
to this time the only anxiety Mr. Lincoln had shown about 
the election was in the returns from his State and town. 
He didn't " feel quite easy," as he said, " about Spring- 
field." Towards morning, however, the announcement 
came that he had a majority in his own precinct. Then it 
was that he showed the first emotion, a jubilant chuckle, and 
soon after he remarked cheerfully to his friends, that he 
" guess'd he'd go home now," which he did. But Spring- 
field was not content to go home. Cannon banged until day- 
light, and on every street corner and in every alley could be 
heard groups of men shouting at the top of their voices, 
" Oh, ain't you glad you joined the Republicans? " 

Twenty-four hours later and the full result of that Tues- 
day's work was known. Out of 303 electoral votes, Lincoln 
had received 180. Of the popular vote he had received 
1,866,452 — nearly a half million over Douglas, a million 
over Breckenridgc, a million and a quarter over Bell. It was 
a victory, but there were facts about the victory which 
startled the thoughtful. If Lincoln had more votes than any 
one opposing candidate, they together had nearly 1,000,000 
over him. Fifteen States of the Union gave him no electoral 
votes, and in ten States he had not received a single popular 
vote. 



CHAPTER XXI 

MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 

Although the election of November 6 made Lincoln the 
President-elect of the United States, for four months, he 
could exercise no direct influence on the affairs of the coun- 
try. If the South tried to make good her threat to secede 
in case he was elected, he could do nothing to restrain her. 
The South did try, and at once. With the very election re- 
turns the telegraph brought Lincoln news of disruption. 
Day by day this news continued, and always more alarming. 
On November lo, the United States senators from South 
Carolina resigned. Six weeks later, that State passed an or- 
dinance of secession and began to organize an independent 
government. By the end of December, the only remnant of 
United States authority in South Carolina was the small 
garrison commanded by Major Anderson which occupied 
Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor. The remaining forts and 
batteries of that harbor, the lighthouse tender, the arsenal, 
the post-office, the custom-house, in short, everything in the 
State over which the Stars and Stripes had floated, was un- 
der the Palmetto Flag. 

In his quiet office in Springfield, Mr. Lincoln read, in 
January, reports of the proceedings of conventions in Mis- 
sissippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana, by all of 
which States, in that month, ordinances of secession were 
adopted. In Februarv, he saw representatives (^f these same 
States unite in a general convention at Montgomery, Ala- 
bama, and the newspapers told him how nromptly and in- 

3^7 



^^88 LIFE OF LINCOLN 



J 



telligently they went to work to found a new nation, the 
Southern Confederacy, to provide it with a constitution, and 
to give it officers. 

Mr. Lincohi observed that each State, as she Avent out of 
the Union, prepared to defend her course if necessary. On 
November i8, Georgia appropriated $1,000,000 to arm 
the State, and in January she seized Forts Pulaski and Jack- 
son and the United States arsenal. Louisiana appropriated 
all the federal property in her borders, even to the mint and 
custom-house and the money they contained. Georgia, 
Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi were not behind in their 
seizures, and when the new government was formed at Mont- 
gomery, it promptly took up the question of defending its 
life. 

Mr. Lincoln was not only obliged to sit inactive and watch 
this steady dissolution of the Union, but he was obliged to 
see what was still harder — that the administration which he 
was to succeed was doing nothing to check the destruction- 
ists. Lideed, all through this period proof accumulated that 
members of Mr. Buchanan's cabinet had been systematically 
working for many months to disarm the North and equip 
the South. The quantity of arms sent quietly from North- 
ern arsenals was so great that the citizens of the towns from 
which they went became alarmed. Thus the Springfield 
" Republican " of January 2, 1861, noted that the citizens of 
that town were growing excited over " the procession of 
government licenses which, during the last spring and sum- 
mer, and also quite recently, have been engaged in transport- 
insr from the United States Armory to the United States 
freight station, an immense quantity of boxes of muskets 
marked for Southern distribution." " We find," the paper 
continues, " that in i860 there were removed for safe-keep- 
ing in other arsenals 135,430 government arms. This has 
nothing to do with the distribution occasionallv made for 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 389 

State militia." And when, in December, the citizens of 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, found that 123 cannon had been 
ordered South from the arsenal there, they made such ener- 
getic protests that President Buchanan was obliged to coun- 
termand the order of his Secretary of War. 

The rapid disintegration which followed the election of 
Mr. Lincoln filled the North with dismay. There was a gen- 
eral demand for some compromise which would reassure 
the South and stop secession. It was the place of the Re- 
publicans, the conservatives argued, to make this compro- 
mise. A furious clamor broke over Mr. Lincoln's head. His 
election had caused the trouble; now what would he do to 
quell it? How^ mucli of the Republican platform would he 
give up? Among the newspapers which pleaded with the 
President-elect to do something to reassure the South the 
most able was the New York " Herald." Lincoln was a 
" sectional President," declared the " Herald," who, out of 
4,700,000 votes cast, had received but 1,850,000, and wdiom 
the South had had no part in electing. 

If Mr. Lincoln intends to carry on the government ac- 
cording to the principles laid down in the Chicago platform 
and the documents issued under the authority of the Re- 
publican " national " committee, the inevitaljle tendency of 
his administration will be to encourage servile insurrections 
and to make the Southern States still more uncomfortal)]e 
within the Union than they could by any possibility be with- 
out it. . . . If the new President recognizes the fact 
that he is not bound by the Chicago platform — the people 
having repudiated it ; . . . if he comes out and tells the 
people that he will govern the country according to the views 
of the majority, and not to serve the purposes of the mi- 
nority, all may yet be well. . . . ]\Ir. Lincoln must 
throw his pledges to the winds, let his party go to perdition 
in its own way, and devote himself to the service of the whole 
country. It is Mr. Lincoln's bounden duty to come out now 
and declare his views. 



390 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



It was not only the opposition press which urged Lincoln 
to offer some kind of compromise; many frightened Repub- 
hcan newspapers added their influence. The appeals of thou- 
sands of letters and of scores of visitors were added to the 
arguments of the press. Lincoln, however, refused to ex- 
press his views anew. " I know the justness of my inten- 
tions," he told an interviewer in November, " and the utter 
groundlessness of the pretended fears of the men who are 
tilling the country with their clamor. If I go into the presi- 
dency, they will find me as I am on record, nothing less, 
nothing more. My declarations have been made to the world 
without reservation. They have been often repeated, and 
now self-respect demands of me and of the party which has 
elected me that, when threatened, I should be silent." 

Business was brought almost to a standstill throughout 
the North by the prospect of disunion. " It is an awful time 
for merchants," wrote a correspondent to Charles Sumner, 
" worse than in 1857. And if there is not some speedy relief, 
more than half of lIic best concerns in the country will be 
ruined." Numbers of prominent men urged the President- 
elect to say something conciliatory for the sake of trade. His 
replies published in Nicolay and Hay's " Abraham Lincoln " 
are marked by spirit and decision. To one man of wealth 
he wrote on Novemjjer 10: 

I am not insensible to any commercial or financial depres- 
sion that may exist, but nothing is to be gained by fawning 
around the " respectable scoundrels " who got it up. Let 
them go to work and repair the mischief of their own mak- 
ing, and then perliaps they will be less greedy to do the like 
again. 

And to Henry J. Raymond, the editor of the New York 
" Times," he gave, on November 28, in answer to a request 
for his views, what he called a " demonstration " of the cor- 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 391 

rectness of his judgment that he should say nothing for the 
pubhc : 

On the 20th instant, Senator Trumbull made a short 
speech, which I suppose you have both seen and approved. 
Has a single newspaper, heretofore against us, urged that 
speech upon its readers with a purpose to (juiet public 
anxiety? Not one, so far as I know. On the contrary, the 
Boston " Courier " and its class hold me responsible for that 
speech, and endeavor to inflame the North with the belief 
tbat it foreshadows an abandonment of Republican grduiid 
by the incoming administration while the Washington " C(«i- 
stitution " and its class hold the same speech up to the South 
as an open declaration of war against them. This is just as 
I expected, and just what would happen with any declaration 
I could make. These political fiends are not half sick enough 
yet. Party malice, and not public good, possesses them en- 
tirely. " They seek a sign, and no sign shall be given them." 
At least such is my present feeling and purpose. 

While refusing positively to express himself for the gen 
eral public at this time, Lincoln wrote and talked freely to 
the Republican leaders, almost all of whom were busy with 
one or another scheme for quieting the distracted nation. 
On the opening of Congress, a committee of tliirty-three Jiad 
been appointed by the House to consider " the present peril- 
ous condition of the country," and the Republican meml)ers 
wished to know what Mr. Lincoln would yield. The lloii. 
William Kellogg, the Illinois member of the committee, 
wrote to him. Llis reply, dated December ll, is unmis- 
takable : 

Entertain no proposition for a compromise in regard to 
the extension of slavery. The instant you do, they have us 
under again: all our labor is lost, and sooner or later must 
be done over. Douglas is sure to be again tr}'ing to bring 
in his " popular sovereignty." Have none of it. The tug 
has to come, and better now than later. You know I think 



392 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

the fugitive slave clause of the Constitution ought to be en- 
forced — to put it in its mildest form, ought not to be re- 
sisted. 

While the committee of thirty-three was seeking grounds 
for a settlement in the House, a committee of thirteen was 
busy in the Senate in the same search. On the latter com- 
mittee was William H. Seward, and he too sent to Mr. Lin- 
coln for a suggestion. In reply, the President-elect sent Mr. 
Seward, by Thurlow Weed, a memorandum which was sup- 
pQsed to have been lost until a few months ago when it was 
discovered by Mr. Frederick Bancroft in course of his re- 
searches for a Life of Seward. Two points are covered in 
this memorandum. The first that the fugitive slave law 
should be enforced, the second that the Federal Union must 
be preserved. In a letter to the Hon. E. B. Washburne, writ- 
ten on December 13th, Lincoln again stated his views on 
slavery extension : 

Prevent, as far as possible, any of our friends from demor- 
alizing themselves and our cause by entertaining propositions 
for compromise of any sort on " slavery extension." There 
is no possible compromise upon it but which puts us under 
again and leaves all our work to do over again. Whether 
it be a Missouri line or Eli Thayer's popular sovereignty, it 
is all the same. Let either be done, and immediately filibus- 
tering and extending slavery recommences. On that point 
hold firm, as with a chain of steel. 

These counsels were given while secession was still in its 
infancy. The alarming developments which followed did 
not cause Lincoln to waver. On January 11, he wrote to 
the Hon. J. T. Hale a letter published by Nicolay and Hay, 
in whicli he said : 

What is our present condition? We have just carried an 
election on principles fairly stated to the people. Now we 
are told in advance the government shall be broken up unless 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 393 

we surrender to those we have beaten, before we take the 
offices. In this they are either attempting to phy upon us 
or they are in dead earnest. Either way, if we surrender, 
it is the end of us and of the government. They will repeat 
the experiment upon us ad libituiii. A year will not pass till 
we shall have to take Cuba as a condition upon which they 
will stay in the Union. They now have the Constitution 
under which we have lived over seventy years, and acts of 
Congress of their own framing, with no prospect of their 
being changed ; and they can never have a more shallow pre- 
text for breaking up the government, or extorting a compro- 
mise, than now. There is, in my judgment, but one compro- 
mise which would really settle the slavery question, and that 
would be a prohibition against acquiring any more territory. 

It was not the North and the Republicans alone that ap- 
pealed to Mr. Lincoln ; the Unionists of the South urged him 
for an explanation which they might present to the people 
as proof that there was nothing to fear from his election. 
Lincoln had no faith that any expression of his would be 
heeded; yet he did, confidentially, express himself frankly to 
many Southerners who came to him in Springfield, and 
there are two letters of his published by Nicolay and Hay 
which show how completely he grasped the essential differ- 
ence between the North and the South, and with what jus- 
tice and kindness he put the case to those who disagreed with 
him. The first of these letters was written to John A. Gil- 
mer, a member of Congress from North Carolina, who de- 
sired earnestly to preserve the Union, but not unless the 
opinions of the South were considered. Mr. Gilmer had 
written to Mr. Lincoln, asking his position on certain ques- 
tions. Lincoln replied : 

Carefully read pages i8, 19, 74, 75, 88, 89, and 267 of 
the volume of joint debates between Senator Douglas and 
myself, with the Republican platform adopted at Chicago, 
and all your questions will be substantially answered. I have 



394 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

iio thought of recommending the aboHtion of slavery in the 
District of Cokimbia, nor the slave-trade among the slave 
States, even on the conditions indicated; ar.c if I were to 
make such recommendation, it is quite clear Congress would 
not follow it. 

As to employing slaves in arsenals and dock-yards, it is a 
thing I never thought of in my life, to my recollection, till I 
saw your letter ; and I may say of it precisely as I have said 
of the two points above. 

As to the use of patronage in the slave States, where there 
are few or no Republicans, I do not expect to inquire for the 
politics of the appointee, or whether he does or not own 
slaves. I intend, in that matter, to accommodate the people 
in the several localities, if they themselves will allow me to 
accommodate them. In one word, I never have been, am 
not now, and probably never shall be in a mood of harassing 
the people either North or South. 

On the territorial question I am inflexible, as you see my 
position in the book. On that there is a difi^erence l)etween 
you and us; and it is the only substantial difference. You 
think slavery is right and ought to be extended • we think 
;t is wrong and ought to be restricted. For this neither has 
any just occasion to be angry with the other. 

As to the State laws mentioned in your sixth question, I 
really know very little of them. I never have read one. If 
any of them are in conflict with the fugitive-slave clause, or 
any other part of the Constitution, I certainly shall be glad 
of their repeal ; but I could hardly be justified, as a citizen of 
Illinois, or as President of the United States, to recommend 
the repeal of a statute of Vermont or South Carolina. 

A week later, Mr. Lincoln wrote to A. PI. Stephens, of 
Georgia, in reply to a note in which Stephens had said : " The 
country is certainly in great peril, and no man ever had 
heavier or greater responsibilities resting upon him than you 
have in the present momentous crisis." 

I fully appreciate the present peril the country is in, and 
the weight of responsibility on me. Do the people of the 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 395 

South really entertain fears that a Republican administration 
would, directly or indirectly, interfere with the slaves, or 
with them about the slaves? If they do, I wish to assure 
you, as once a friend, and still, I hope, not an enemy, that 
there is no cause for such fears. The South would be in no 
more danger in this respect than it was in the days of Wash- 
ington. I suppose, however, this does not meet the case. 
You think slavery is right and ought to be extended, while 
we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. That, I 
suppose, is the rub. It certainly is the only substantial differ- 
ence between us. 

The uproar which raged about Mr. Lincoln soon became 
quite as loud over " coercion " as over '' compromise." Each 
passing week made conciliation more difficult, saw new ele- 
ments of disunion realized. What was to be done with the 
seceding States? What was to be done about the forts and 
arsenals, custom-houses and post-offices, they were seizing? 
If Mr. Lincoln would not compromise, was he going to let 
the States and the federal property go, or was he going to 
compel them to return with it ? Did he propose to coerce the 
South? Though the President-elect refused to give any 
expression of opinion on the subject to the country, it was 
not because he was not perfectly clear in his own mind. wSe- 
cession he considered impossible. " My opinion is," he wrote 
Thurlow Weed on December 17, " that no State can in 
any way lawfully get out of the Union without the consent 
of the others; and that it is the duty of the President and 
other government functionaries to run the machine as it is." 

When Horace Greeley began a series of editorials in the 
" Tribune " contending that if seven or eight States sent 
agents to Washington saying. " We want to get out of the 
LInion," he should feel constrained by b.is devotion to Tinman 
Liberty to say " Let them go," Linoun said nothing publicly, 
though in Springfield it was believed that he considered the 
policy " dangerous and illosfical." He certainly was only 



396 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

amused at Fernando Wood's scheme to take New York City 
out of the Union and make it a free city — another Hamburg. 
" I reckon," he said to a New Yorker in February, in dis- 
cussing the subject, " that it will be some time before the 
front door sets up house-keeping on its own account." 

As to the forts and other federal property seized by the 
outgoing States, he seems to have felt from the first that they 
were to be retaken. In this matter he sought guidance from 
Andrew Jackson. Less than a week after his election, a cor- 
respondent of the " Evening Post " found him engaged in 
reading the history of the nullifiers of 1832 and 1833 and of 
the summary way in which " Old Hickory " dealt with them. 
In December, he wrote to his friend E. B. Washburne, who 
had just reported to him an interview with General Scott, 
the general in command of the army, on the dangers of the 
situation : 

Please present my respects to the General, and tell him, 
confidentially, that I shall be obliged to him to be as well 
prepared as he can to either hold or retake the forts, as the 
case may require, at and after the inauguration. 

And the very next day, he wrote to Major David Hunter: 

The most we can do now is to watch events, and be as 
well [)repared as possible for any turn things may take. If 
the forts fall, my judgment is that they are to be retaken. 

From the foregoing letters it will be seen that Mr. Lincoln 
had stripped his opinions on the questions of the day of all 
verbiage and non-essentials and reduced them to the follow- 
ing simple propositions. 

( 1 ) Slavery is wrong, and must not be extended. 

(2) Entertain no proposition for a compromise in regard 
to the extension of slavery. 

(3) No State can in any way lawfully get out of the 
Union, without the consent of the others. It is the duty of 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 397 

the President and other government functionaries to run the 
machine as it is. 

(4) If the forts fall, my judgment is that they are to be 
retaken. 

To these simple statements he stuck throughout this pe- 
riod of confusion and distress, refusing to allow them to be 
obscured by words and passion, and making them his guide 
in the work of preparation for his inauguration. 

Three things especially occupietl him in this preparation : 
( I ) Making the acquaintance of the men with whom he was 
to be associated in the administration. (2) His cabinet. 
(3) His inaugural address. 

The first letter Lincoln wrote after his election was to 
Hannibal Hamlin, the Vice-President-elect, asking for an 
interview. The two gentlemen met at the Tremont House, 
Chicago, on November 23. Mr. Hamlin once gave to a 
friend, Mr. C. J. Prescott, of New York, an account of this 
meeting, which Mr. Prescott has written out for this work : 

Mr. Hamlin was for many years a member of the Board 
of Trustees of Waterville College now Colby University, 
Waterville, Maine. On one of the annual Commencement 
occasions, I found him one afternoon seated on the piazza 
of the Elmwood, for the moment alone and unoccupied. 
Taking a chair by his side, I said : " Mr. Hamlin, when did 
you first meet Mr. Lincoln?" "Well," said he, "I very 
plainly recall the circumstances of our first meeting. It was 
in Chicago. Some time before the inauguration. I received 
a letter from Mr. Lincoln, askiner me to see him before I 
went to Washington. So I went to Chicago, where I was to 
meet Mr. Lincoln. Sending my card to Mr. Lincoln's room, 
I received word to * come right up.' I found the door open, 
and Mr. Lincoln approaching with extended hand. With a 
hearty welcome, he said, ' I think I have never met you be- 
fore, Mr. Hamlin, but this is not the first time I have seen 
you. I have just been recalling the time when, in '48, I went 
CO the Senate to hear you speak. Your subject was not new, 



398 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

but the ideas were sound. You were talking about slavery, 
and I now take occasion to thank you for so well expressing 
what were my own sentiments at that time.' 

" ' Well, Mr. President,' said I, ' this is certainly quite a 
remarkable coincidence. I myself have just been recalling 
the first time I ever saw you. It must have been about the 
same time to which you allude. I was passing through the 
House, and was attracted by some remarks on the subject 
of slavery from one of the new members. They told me it 
was Lincoln, of Illinois. I heard you through, and I very 
well remember how heartily I endorsed every point you 
made. And, Mr. President, I have no doubt we are still in 
perfect accord on the main question.' " 

The result of the Chicago interview was a cordial under- 
standing between the two men which lasted throughout their 
administration. This was to be expected, for they were not 
unlike in character and experience. The same kind of demo- 
cratic feeling inspired their relations with others. Both 
" marched with the boys." Both were eminently compan- 
ionable. Hamlin liked a good story as well as Lincoln, and 
told almost as many. He had, too, the same quaint way of 
putting things. Like Lincoln, Hamlin had been born poor, 
and had had a hand-to-hand struggle to get up in the world. 
He had worked on a farm, chopped logs, taught school, 
studied law at night; in short, turned his hand cheerfully 
and eagerly to anything that would help him to realize his 
ambitions. Like Lincoln, he had gone early into politics, 
and, like Lincoln again, he had revolted from his party in 
1856 to join the Republicans. 

A great many men were summoned to Springfield by Lin- 
coln, in order that he might learn their views more perfectly. 
Among those who came, either by his direct or indi- 
rect invitation, were Edward Bates, Thurlow Weed, 
David Wilmot, A. K. McClure, George W. Julian. 
E. D. Baker, William Sweeney, Horace Greeley, and Carl 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 399 

Schurz. With many of them Lincohi did not hesitate to 
talk over his cabinet. Thurlow Weed says that when he 
visited the President-elect in December, the latter introduced 
the subject of the cabinet, saying that " he supposed I had 
had some experience in cabinet-making, that he had a job 
on hand, and as he had never learned that trade, he was dis- 
posed to avail himself of the suggestions of friends." " The 
making of a cabinet," he continued, " now that he had it to 
do, was by no means as easy as he had supposed ; that he had, 
even before the result of the election was known, assuming 
the probability of success, fixed upon the two leading mem- 
bers of his cabinet; but that, in looking about for suitable 
men to fill the other departments, he had been much embar- 
rassed, partly from his want of acquaintance with the promi- 
nent men of the day, and partly, he believed, because that, 
while the population had greatly increased, really great men 
were scarcer than they used to be." 

The two members of his cabinet on whom Lincoln fixed 
so early were Seward and Chase. He wrote Seward on De- 
cember 8, asking permission to nominate him as Secretary 
of State, and saying : 

It has been my purpose, from the day of the nomination 
at Chicago, to assign you, by your leave, this place in the 
administration. I have delayed so long to communicate that 
purpose in deference to what appeared to me a [proper cau- 
tion in the case. Nothing has been developed to change my 
view in the premises; and I now offer you the place, in the 
hope that you will accept it, and with the belief that your po- 
sition in the public eye, your integrity, ability, learning, and 
great experience, all combine to render it an appointment 
pre-eminently fit to be made. 

Seward took three weeks to consider, and filially, on 
December 28, wrote that, *' after due reflection and much 
self-distrust," he had concluded it was his duty to accept. 



400 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Lincoln did not approach Chase on the subject of the cabi- 
net until some three weeks after he had written Seward. 
Then, on December 31, he wrote him this brief note: 

In these troublous times I would much like a conference 
with you. Please visit me here at once. 

Chase reached Springfield on the evening of January 3, 
and Lincoln, in his informal way, went to the hotel to see 
him. Chase afterward described the interview in a letter to 
a friend : 

He said he had felt bound to offer the position of Secretary 
of State to Mr. Seward as the generally recognized leader 
of the Republican party, intending, if he declined it, to offer 
it to me. He did not wish that Mr. Seward should decline 
it, and was glad that he had accepted, and now desired to 
have me take the place of Secretary of tlie Treasury. 

Chase did not promise to accept, only to think it over, and 
so the situation stood until the appointment was actually 
made in March. 

It was Pennsylvania and the South that gave Lincoln the 
greatest trouble. " Pennsylvania,"he told Weed, " any more 
than New York or Ohio, cannot be overlooked. Her strong 
Republican vote, not less than her numerical importance, en- 
titles her to a representative in the cabinet." After a careful 
" balancing of matters," as he called it, he concluded to ap- 
point Simon Cameron as the Pennsylvania cabinet member, 
and on December 31 he ga\c Cameron, who had been for 
three days in Springfield discussing the situation, the fol- 
lowing letter : 

Hon. Simon Cvmeron. 

My dear Sir: I think fit to notify you now that, by your 
permission, I shall at the proj)er time nominate you to the 
United States Senate for crmfirniation as Secretary of the 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT- ELECT 401 

Treasury, or as Secretary of War — which of the two I have 
not yet definitely decided. Please answer at your earliest 
convenience. Your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln. 

Cameron had scarcely reached home with his letter before 
those opposed to him in Pennsylvania had frightened Lin- 
coln into believing that the lack of trust in Cameron's politi- 
cal honesty which existed throughout the country would 
destroy faith in the new cabinet. Lincoln immediately wrote 
Cameron that things had developed which made it impossible 
to take him into the cabinet. Later he assured Cameron that 
the withdrawal did not spring from any change of view as to 
the ability or faithfulness with which he would discharge the 
duties of the j^lace, and he promised not to make a cabinet 
appointment for Pennsylvania without consulting him and 
giving all the weight he consistently could to his views and 
wishes. There the matter remained until March. 

Among conciliatory Republicans there was a strong de- 
sire that Lincoln find a member of his cabinet in the South. 
It was believed that such an act would be taken as proof that 
the new President intended to consider the claims of the 
South. Lincoln did not Ijelieve the idea practical, and he 
showed the difficulties in the way very shrewdly by causing 
to be inserted, on December 12, in the " Illinois Journal," a 
paper popularly called his " organ," the following short edi- 
torial : 

We hear such frequent allusions to a supposed purpose on 
the part of Mr. Lincoln to call into his cabinet two or three 
Southern gentlemen from the parties opposed to him politi- 
cally, that we are prompted to ask a few questions. 

First, Is it known that any such gentlemen of character 
would accept a place in the cabinet? 

Second. If yea, on what terms does he surrender to Mr. 
Lincoln or Mr Lincoln to him, on the political differences 



402 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

between them; or do they enter upon the administration in 
open opposition to each other? 

The demand continued, however. Weed told Lincoln in 
December that, in his opinion, at least two of the members 
of the cabinet should be from the South. Lincoln was doubt- 
ful if they could be trusted. " There are men in Alaryland, 
Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee," replied Weed, 
" for whose loyalty under any circumstances, and in any 
event, I would vouch." 

" Well," said Lincoln, " let me have the names of your 
white blackbirds." Weed gave him four names. Mr. 
Seward, a little later, suggested several, and Mr. Greeley 
likewise sent him a list of five Southerners whom he declared 
it would be safe to take into the official family. Of all those 
named, Lincoln preferred John A. Gilmer, of North Caro- 
lina, and he invited him to come to Springfield for an inter- 
view. As late as January 12, he wrote to Seward: 

I still hope Mr. Gilmer will, on a fair understanding with 
us, consent to take a place in the cabinet. ... 1 fear, if we 
could get, we could not safely take more than one such man — • 
that is, not more than one who opposed us in the election, the 
danger being to lose the confidence of our own friends. 

Mr. Gilmer did not accept Mr. Lincoln's invitation to 
Springfield, however, and nothing ever came of the overture 
made him. The nearest approach Lincoln made to selecting 
a cabinet member from the South was in the appointment of 
Edward Bates, of Missouri. He was one of the men whom 
Lincoln had decided upon as soon as he knew of his election, 
and he was the first after Seward to be notified. A repre- 
sentative from Indiana was desirable, and Caleb Smith was 
put on the slate provisionally. It was necessary, too, that 
New England have a place in the cabinet. Mr. Lincoln had 
three candidates, of all of vvhom he thought well — Tuck, of 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 403 

New Hampshire ; Banks, of Massachusetts ; Gideon Welles, 
of Connecticut; but he made no decision until after he 
reached Washington. 

About the middle of January, 1861, Lincoln began to 
prepare his inaugural address. A more desperate situation 
than existed at that moment it would be hard to imagine. 
Thus far every peace measure had failed, and the endless 
discussions of press and senate chamber were daily increasing 
the anger and the bewilderment of the people. Four States 
had left the Union, and the South was rapidly accepting the 
idea of separate nationality. The North was desperate and 
helpless. All the bitterness and confusion centred about 
Lincoln. A hundred things told him how serious was the 
situation ; the averted faces of his townsmen of Southern 
sympathies, the warnings of good men who sought him 
from North, and South, letters threatening him with death, 
sketches of gibbets and stilettos in every mail. 

But in spite of all these distracting circumstances, when he 
thought it time to write the inaugural address, he calmly 
locked himself up in an upper room over a store, across the 
street from the State House, where he had his office, and 
there, with no books but a copy of the " Constitution," Henry 
Clay's " Speech of 1850," Jackson's " Proclamation against 
Nullification," and Webster's " Reply to Hayne," he pre- 
pared the document. Wishing to have several copies of it, 
he went to the general manager of the Illinois " State 
Journal," Major Wm. H. Bailhache, now of San Diego, 
California, to arrange for them. Major Bailhache has 
prepared for this work a statement of the incident : 

" In relation to the printing of the draft of his first inaugu- 
ral address, my recollection is very clear that his manner was 
as free from formality and affectation as it would have been 
had he been ordering the printing of a legal document. He 
merely asked me, one day early in January, 1861, if I could 



404 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

print his address in a certain style without its contents becom- 
ing known, and upon being assured that I could do so» he 
remarked that he would give me the manuscript in a few 
days. Not long after this, he placed the momentous paper in 
my hands. I had the work done at once, under my personal 
supervision, in a private room in the "Journal" building, 
by a trusted employe, sworn to secrecy. When it was 
finished, I returned the manuscript to Mr. Lincoln, together 
with the twenty printed copies ordered, one of which he 
himself gave to me, and it has been retained in my possession 
ever since. I may remark in passing, that the manuscript 
was all in his own handwrititig and was almost entirely free 
from alterations or interlineations. He did not ask to see a 
proof, reposing entire confidence in my careful supervision. 
Neither the original draft nor the printed sheets were ever 
out of my immediate custody for an instant during the time 
occupied in the printing, and I doubt whether any of the 
score or more of " typos " emi)loyed in the " Journal " office 
had even the slightest suspicion that this important state 
paper was then being put in type under the same roof with 
them. Be this as it may, the secret was well kept, although 
the newspapers employed every conceivable means to obtain 
a hint of its tenor, and the whole country was in a state of 
feverish anxiety to loarn what the ]X)licy of the new Presi- 
dent was to be." 

Although Lincoln met the appalling events which preceded 
his inauguration with an outward calm, which led many 
people to say that he did not realize the seriousness of the 
situation, he was keenly alixe to the dangers of the country 
and to the difficulty of his own ])osition. So full of threats 
and alarms had his life become by the time of his electitm 
that the mysticism of his nature was awakened, and he was 
the victim of an hallucination which he afterwards described 
to different friends, among them Noah Brooks, who tells the 
story in Lincoln's own words : 

It was just after my election in i860, when the news had 
been coming in thick and fast all day and there had been a 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 405 

great " hurrah boys," so that I w as well tired out and went 
home to rest, throwing myself down on a lounge in my 
chamber. Opposite where I lay was a bureau with a swing- 
ing glass upon it (and here he got up and placed furniture to 
illustrate the position), and looking in that glass, I saw 
myself reflected nearly at full length ; but my face, I noticed, 
had tiiw separate and distinct images, the tip of the nose of 
one being about three inches from the tip of the other. I was 
a little bothered, perhaps startled, and got up and looked ir 
the glass, but the illusion vanished. On lying down again, I 
saw it a second time, plainer, if possible, than before; and 
then I noticed that one of the faces was a little paler — say, 
five shades — than the other. I got up, and the thing melted 
away, and I went off, and in the excitement of the hour 
forgot all about it — nearly, but not quite, for the thing would 
once in a while come up, and give me a little pang, as if 
,something uncomfortable had happened. When I went home 
again that night, I told my wife about it, and a few days 
afterward I made the experiment again, when (with a 
laugh), sure enough! the thing came again; but I never 
succeeded in bringing the ghost back after that, though I 
once tried very industriously to show it to my wife, who was 
somewhat worried about it. She thought it was a '' sign " 
that I was to be elected to a second term of office, and that 
the paleness of one of the faces was an omen that I should not 
see life through the last term. 

Of far deeper significance than this touch of superstition 
is a look into the man's heart which Judge Gillespie, a life- 
long friend of Lincoln, left, and which his daughter, Mrs. 
Josephine Gillespie Prickett, of Edwardsville, Illinois, has 
kindly put at my service. Early in January, Judge Gillespie 
was in Sj^ringfield, and spent the night at Mr. Lincoln's 
luMuc. It was late before the President-elect was free, and 
then the two men seated themselves by the fire for a talk. 

" I attempted," says Judge Gillespie, " to draw him intc 
conversation relating to the past, hoping to divert him from 
the thoughts which were evidently distracting him. ' Yes, 



4o6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

yes, I remember,' he would say to my references to old scenes 
and associations; but the old-time zest was not only lacking, 
but in its place was a gloom and despondency entirely foreign 
to Lincoln's character as I had learned to know it. I 
attributed much of this to his changed surroundings. He 
sat with his head lying upon his arms, which were folded 
over the back of his chair, as I had often seen him sit on our 
travels after an exciting day in court. Suddenly he roused 
himself. ' Gillespie,' said he, ' I would willingly take out of 
my life a period in years equal to the two months which 
intervene between now and my inauguration to take the oath 
of office now.' 'Why?' I asked. 'Because every hour 
adds to the difficulties I am called upon to meet, and the 
present administration does nothing to check the tendency 
toward dissolution. I, who ha^-e been called to meet this 
awful responsibility, am compelled to remain here, doing 
nothing to avert it or lessen its force when it comes to me.' 

" I said that the condition of which he spoke was such as 
had never risen before, and that it might lead to the amend- 
ment of such an obvious defect in the federal Constitution. 
' It is not of myself I complain,' he said, with more bitterness 
than I ever heard him speak, before or after. ' But every 
day adds to the difficulty of the situation, and makes the 
outlook more gloomy. Secession is being fostered rather 
than repressed, and if the doctrine meets with a general 
acceptance in the border States, it will be a great blow to the 
government.' 

" Our talk then turned upon the possibility of avoiding a 
war. * It is only possible,' said Mr. J>incoln, ' upon the 
consent of this government to the erection of a foreign slave 
government out of the present slave States. I see the duty 
devolving upon me. I have read, upon my knees, the story 
of Gethsemane, where the Son of God prayed in vain that the 
cup of bitterness might pass from him. I am in the garden 
of Gethsemane now, and my cup of bitterness is full and 
overflowing.' 

" I then told him that as Clirisl ^ prayer was not answered 
and his crucifixion had redeemed the great part of the world 
from paganism to Christianity, so the sacrifice demanded of 
him might be a great beneficence. Little did I then think 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 40 



T 



how prophetic were my words to be, or what a great sacrifice 
he was called to make. 

" I trust and believe that that night, before I let him go, I 
shed some rays of sunlight into that troubled heart. Ere 
long he came to talk of scenes and incidents in which he had 
taken part, and to laugh over my reminders of some of our 
professional experiences. When I retired, it was the master 
of the house and chosen ruler of the country who saw me to 
my room. ' Joe,' he said, as he was about to leave me, ' I 
suppose you will never forget that trial down in Montgomery 
County, where the lawyer associated with you gave away the 
whole case in his opening speech. I saw you signaling to 
him, but you couldn't stop him. Now, that's just the way 
with me and Buchanan. He is giving away the case, and I 
have nothing to say, and can't stop him. Good-night.' " 

But the time for going to Washington was drawing near. 
There had been considerable discussion about when he had 
better go. So many threats had been made and so many 
rumors were in the air, that the party leaders had begun to 
feel, as early as December, that the President-elect might 
never get to Washington alive. Even Seward, optimist as 
he was, felt that precautions had better be taken, and he 
wrote Lincoln, from Washington, on December 28: 

There is a feverish excitement here which awakens all 
kinds of apprehensions of popular disturbance and disorders, 
connected with your assumption of the government. 

I do not entertain these apprehensions myself. But it is 
worth consideration, in our peculiar circumstances, that 
accidents themselves may aggravate opinion here. Habit 
has accustomed the public to anticipate the arrival of the 
President-elect in this city about the middle of February ; and 
evil-minded persons would expect to organize the demon- 
strations for that time. I beg leave to suggest whether it 
would not be well for you, keeping your own counsel, to be 
prepared to drop into the city a week or ten days earlier. 
The effect would be, probably, reassuring^ and soothing. 



4o8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Mr. Lincoln replied: 

I liave been considering your suggestions as to my reach- 
ing Washington somewhat earlier than is usual. It seems to 
me the inauguration is not the most dangerous point for us. 
Our adversaries have us now clearly at disadvantage. On 
the second Wednesday of February, when the votes should 
be officially counted, if the two Houses refuse to meet at 
all, or meet without a quorum of each, where shall we be? I 
do not think that this counting is constitutit)nally essential 
to the election ; but how are we to ])roceed in absence of it ? 

Jn view of this, I think it best for me not to attemjjt 
appearing in Washington till the result of that ceremony is 
known. 

The peace of tlie capital was, liowcncr, in good hands. 
General Scott, the general in connnantl of the army, had, 
even before the election, seen the trouble coming, and had 
pleaded with the administration to dispose of the United 
States forces in such a way as to protect threatened property. 
Early in January, he succeeded in securing a guard for 
Washington. The fear that the electoral vote would never 
be counted partially subsided then, and Lincoln announced 
that he would leave Springfield on February ii. 

The fortnight before his departure he gave to settling up 
his private business and saying good-by to his old friends. 
I lis stepmother was still living near Charleston, in Coles 
County, and thither he went to sjjcnd a day with her and to 
visit his father's grave. The comfort antl happiness of his 
stepmother had been one of his cares from the time he began; 
to be self-supporting, and in this farewell visit he assured 
himself that her future was provided for. Mrs. Lincoln, who 
was now a very old woman and might naturally doubt 
whether she 'vvould live to see her son again, was not con- 
cerned about herself at this time. The threats which pursued 
Lincoln had reached her, and in bitlding him good-by, she 
sobbed out her belie^^ that she would never see him again; 




SARAH BUSH LINCOLN 

From a photograph in possession of her grancldaughter, Mrs. Harriet 
Chapman, of Charleston, 111. Sarah Bush was Itorn in Kentucky, 
Deeember 13, 17.S<S. She was a friend of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy 
Hanks, and it is said that Thomas Lincoln had been her suitor i)efore 
she married Danit-l .hihnston. Her husband diccl in October, ISIS. 
In Novenii)er, LS19, Thomas Lincoln soufiht her a s(>cond lime in mar- 
riage. She was in debt, and the fact caused her to hesitate; l)ut her 
suitor redeemed all her pa|)er. and ijresented it to her with reiiewcil 
protestations of affection. He was convinced that a woman with her 
honor abo\it di>bts would make hitii a good wife. There is no (|uestion 
that as Thomas Lincoln's wife she exerted a remarkable influence upon 
his household, and with her dignity and kindliness played a large part 
in the development of her step-son, .\braham. Sh(> died on the lOth 
of December, 1SG9, at the old homestead in Coles County, Illinois. 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 409 

that his life would be taken. This same fear was expressed 
by many of Lincoln's early friends who came to Springfield 
to say good-by to him. 

In the multitude of partings which took place in these last 
days none was more characteristic than that with his law 
partner, Herndon. The day before his departure, Mr. Lin- 
coln went to the office to settle some unfinished business. 

''After those things were all disposed of," writes Mr. 
Herndon, *' he crossed to the opposite side of the room and 
threw himself down on the old ofiice sofa, which, after many 
years of service, had been moved against tiiewall for suppt)rt. 
Pie lay for some moments, his face towards the ceiling, with- 
out either of us speaking. Presently he in(|uired, ' Billy " — 
he always called me by that name — ' how long have we been 
together?' 'Over sixteen years,' I answered. 'We've 
never had a cross word during all that time, have we? ' . . . 
He gathered a bundle of papers and books he wished to take 
with him, and started to go ; but before leaving lie made the 
strange request that the sign-board which swung on its rusty 
hinges at the foot of the stairway should remain. ' Let it 
hang there undisturbed,' he said, with a significant lowering 
of the voice. ' Give our clients to understand that the elec- 
tion of a president makes no change in the firm of Linct)ln & 
Herndon. If I live, I am coming back some time, and tiien 
we'll go right on practising law as if nothing had hai)i)ened.' 
He lingered for a moment, as if -to take a last look at the old 
quarters, and then passed through the door into the narrow 
hallway." 

Herndon says that he never saw Lincoln more cheerful 
than on that day, and Judge Gillespie, wlu) visited him a few 
days earlier, found him in excellent spirits, '' I told him that 
I believed it would do him good to get down to Washing- 
ton." " I know it will," he replied. " I only wish 1 could 
have got there to lock the door before the horse was stolen. 
But when I get to the spot, I can find the tracks." 



4IO LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Mr. Lincoln and his party were to leave Springfield by a 
special train at eight o'clock on Monday morning, February 
1 1 . And at precisely five minutes before eight o'clock, he 
was summoned from the dingy waiting-room of the station. 
Slowly working his way through the crowd of friends and 
townspeople that had gathered to bid him good-by, he 
mounted the platform of the car, and turning, stood looking 
down into the multitude of sad, friendly upturned faces. For 
a moment a strong emotion shook him ; then, removing his 
hat and lifting his hand to command silence, he spoke: 

My friends, no one, not in my situation, can appreciate my 
feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the 
kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived 
a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an 
old man. Here my children have been born and one is buried. 
I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may 
return, with a task before me greater than that which rested 
upon Washington. Witliout the assistance of that Divine 
Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that 
assistance, I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with 
me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us 
confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care 
commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will com- 
mend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell, * 

A sob went through the listening crowd as Mr. Lmcoln's 
broken voice asked their prayers, and a choked exclamation, 
" We will do it ! We will do it ! " rose as he ceased to speak. 
Upon all who listened to him that morning his words pro- 
duced a deep impression. " I was only a lad of fourteen," 
says Mr. Lincoln Dubois, of Springfield, " but to this day I 
can recall almost the exact language of that speech." " We 
have known Mr. Lincoln for many years," wrote the editor 
of the " State Journal." " W^e have heard him speak upon a 

* The version of the farewell speech here used is that given by Nico 
lay and Hay in their " Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln." 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 41 1 

hundred different occasions; but we never saw him so pro- 
foundly affected, nor did he ever utter an address which 
seemed to us so full of simple and touching eloquence, so 
exactly adapted to the occasion, so worthy of the man and the 
hour. Although it was raining fast when he began to s])eak. 
every hat was lifted and every head bent forward to catch 
the last words of the departing chief. When he said, with 
the earnestness of a sudden inspiration of feeling, that wifh 
God's help lie should not faU, there was an uncontrollable 
Uirst of applause." 

The speech was of course telegraphed over the country, 
and though politicians sneered at it, the people were touched. 
He had appealed to one of their deepest convictions, the belief 
in a Providence whose help was given to those who sought 
•t in prayer. The new President, they said to one another, 
"Vas not only a man who had struggled with life like common 
■people; he was a man who believed, as they did, in God, and 
Vvas not ashamed to ask the prayers of good men. 

The journey eastward through Illinois, which now began, 
ivas full of incident. No better description of it was ever 
given than that of Thomas Ross, a brakeman on the presi- 
dential train. 

" The enthusiasm all along the line was intense. As we 
whirled through the country villages, we caught a cheer from 
the people and a glimpse of waving handkerchiefs and of hats 
tossed high into the air. Wherever we stopped there was 
a great rush to shake hands with Mr. Lincoln, though of 
course only a few could reach him. The crowds looked as if 
they included the whole population. There were women and 
children, there were young men, and there were old men 
with gray beards. It was soiil-stirring to see these white- 
whiskered old fellows, many of whom had known Lincoln 
in his humbler days, join in the cheering, and ;:ear them 
shout after him, ' Good-by, Abe. Stick to the Constitution, 
and we will stick to you.' It was my good fortune to stand 



412 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

beside Lincoln at each place at which he spoke — at Decatur, 
Tolono, and Danville. At the State line the train stopped 
for dinner. There was such a crowd that Lincoln could 
scarcely reach the dining-room. ' Gentlemen,' said he, as 
he surveyed the crowd, * if you will make me a little path, so 
that I can get through and get something to eat, I will make 
you a speech when I get back.' 

" I never knew where all the people came from. They 
were not only in the towns and villages, but many were along 
the track in the country, just to get a glimpse of the Presi- 
dent's train. I remember that, after passing Bement, we 
crossed a trestle, and I was greatly interested to see a man 
standing there with a shot-gun. As the train passed he pre- 
sented arms. I have often thought he was there, a volun- 
teer, to watch the trestle and to see tliat the President's train 
got over it in safety. As I have said, the people everywhere 
were wild. Everybody wanted to shake hands with Lincoln, 
and he would have to say : ' My friends, I would like to 
shake hands with all of you, but I can't do it.' At Danville 
I well remember seeing him thrust his long arm over several 
heads to shake hands with George Lawrence. Walter Whit- 
ney, the conductor, who went on to Indianapolis, told me 
when he got back that, after Lincoln got into a carriage, men 
got hold of the hubs and carried the vehicle for a whole block. 
At the State line, I left the train, and returned to Springfield, 
having passed the biggest day in my whole life." 

It was nearly five o'clock in the afternoon before the party 
reached Indianapolis, where they were to spend the night. 
An elaborate reception had been prepared, and here Mr. Lin- 
coln made his first speech. It was not long, but it contained 
a paragraph of vital importance. The discussion over the 
right of the government to coerce the South was at its height. 
Lincoln had never publicly expresssed himself on this point. 
In the Indianapolis speech he said : 

The words " coercion " and " invasion " are much used in 
these days, and often with some temper and hot blood. Let 
us make sure, if we can. that we do not misunderstand the 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 41- 



J 



meaning of those who use them. Let us get exact definitions 
of these words, not from dictionaries, but from tiie men 
themselves, wlio certainly deprecate the things they would 
represent by the use of words. What, then, is " coer- 
cion " ? What is " invasion " ? Would the marchiu"- of 
an army into South Carolina without the consent of her 
people, and with hostile intent toward them, be " inva- 
sion " ? I certainly think it would ; and it would be " coer- 
cion " also if the South Carolinians were forced to submit. 
But if the United States should merely hold and retake its 
own forts and other property, and collect the duties on 
foreign importations, or even withhold the mails from places 
where they were habitually violated, would any or all of 
these things be '' invasion " or " coercion " ? Do our pro- 
fessed lovers of the Union, but who spitefully resolve that 
the)^ will resist coercion and invasion, understand that such 
things as these on the part of the United States would be 
coercion or invasion of a State ? If so, their idea of means 
to preserve the object of their great affection would seem to 
be exceedingly thin and airy. If sick, the little pills of the 
homeopathist would be much too large for them to swallow. 
In their view, the Union as a family relation would seem to 
be no regular marriage, but rather a sort of " free-love " ar- 
rangement, to be maintained only on " passional attraction." 

The speech was warmly applauded by the Republican 
press. It was the sign they had been seeking from Mr. Lin- 
coln. But to the advocates of compromise it was a bitter 
message. " The bells of St. Germain I'Auxerrois have at 
length tolled forth the signal for massacre and bloodshed by 
the incoming administration," said the New York "Herald." 

A long public reception in the evening, a breakfast the next 
morning with the Governor of the State, another reception at 
the hotel, and then, at ten o'clock on the morning of the 12th, 
Mr. Lincoln's party left Indianapolis for Cincinnati. Several 
of the friends who had come from Springfield left Mr. Lin- 
coln at Indianapolis, but others joined him, and the train was 



414 i'lFE OF LINCOLN 

as full of life and interest as it had been the day before. 
There was, too, the same succession of decorated, cheering 
towns; the same eager desire to see and hear the President at 
every station. At Cincinnati, where the second night was 
spent and where a magnificent reception was given him, Lin- 
coln made two brief addresses. In that to the Mayor and 
citizens he was particularly happy : 

" I have spoken but once before this in Cincinnati," he 
said. " That was a year previous to the late presidential 
election. On that occasion, in a playful manner, but witii 
sincere words, 1 addressed nuich of what 1 said to the Ken- 
tuckians. I gave my opinion that we as Republicans would 
ultimately beat them as Democrats, but that they could post- 
pone that result longer by nominating Senator Douglas for 
the presidency than they could in any other way. They did 
not, in any true sense of the word, nominate Mr. Douglas, 
and the result has come certainly as soon as ever I expected. 
I also told them how I expected they would be treated after 
they should have been beaten ; and I now wish to recall their 
attention to what I then said upon that subject. I then said, 
* When we do as we say — beat you — you perhaps want to 
know what we will do with you. I will tell you, so far as I 
am authorized to speak for the opposition, what we mean to 
do with you. We mean to treat you, as near as we possibly 
can, as Washington, Jefferson, and Madison treated you. 
We mean to leave you alone, and in no way interfere with 
your institutions; to abide by all and every compromise of 
the Constitution ; and, in a word, coming back to the original 
proposition, to treat you, so far as degenerate men — if we 
have degenerated — may, according to the examples of those 
noble fathers, Washington, Jefferson, and Madison. We 
mean to remember that you are as good as we ; that there is 
no difference between us other than the difference of circum- 
stances. We mean to recognize and bear in mind always 
that you have as good hearts in your bosoms as other people, 
or as we claim to have, and treat you accordingly.' 

" Fellow-citizens of Kentucky ! — friends ! — brethren ! may 
I call you in my new position ? I see no occasion, and feel no 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 



415 



inclination, to retract a word of this. If it shall not be made 
good, be assured the fault shall not be mine." 

These conciliatory remarks were received with great en- 
thusiasm, the crowd rushing at him as soon as he had fin- 
ished, patting him on the back, and almost wrenching his 
arms off in their efforts at showing their approval. 

On Wednesday morning, Mr. Lincoln left Cincinnati for 
Columbus. Although few stops were made, he was kept 
busy receiving the committees and politicians who boarded 
the train here and there, and who were indefatigable in their 
efforts to draw from him some expression of his views. Mr. 
Lincoln felt that to answer their questions would be the 
gravest indiscretion, and he resorted to stories and jests in 
his efforts not to commit himself or offend his visitors. The 
reports of his " levity," as more than one felt this practice to 
be, were telegraphed over the country and bitterly com- 
mented upon by a large part of the press. So far, however, 
as the stories Mr. Lincoln told on his journey have come to 
us, they contain quite as much political wisdom as a sober 
dissertation could have contained. Thus there was a great 
deal of discussion cii route about the possibility of reconciling 
the Northern and Southern Democrats. Mr. Lincoln was 
appealed to. " Well," he said, " I once knew a gi)0(l sound 
churchman called Brown, who was on a committee to erect a 
bridge over a very dangerous and rapid river. Several 
engineers had failed, and at last Brown said he had a friend 
Jones, who, he believed, could build the bridge. Jones was 
accordingly summoned. 'Can you build this bridge?' 
asked the committee. ' Yes,' replied Jones; ' I could build a 
bridge to the infernal regions if necessary.* Tiie committee 
Was horrified ; but after Jones liad retired, Brown said 
thoughtfully, ' I know Jones so well, and he is so honest a 
man and so good a builder, that if he says he can build a 



4i6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

bridge to Hades, why, I believe it; but I have my doubts 
about the abutments on the infernal side.' So," said Lin- 
coln, " when politicians say they can harmonize the Northern 
and Southern wings of the Democracy, V'hy, I believe them, 
but I have my doubts about the abutments on the Southern 
side." 

At Columbus, the brilliant receptions of Indianapolis and 
Cincinnati were repeated, and here Mr. Lincoln addressed 
briefly the State Legislature. One clause of his remarks 
proved to be most unfortunate : 

Allusion has been made to the interest felt in relation to 
the policy of the new administration. In this I have received 
from some a degree of credit for having kept silence, and 
from others some depreciation. I still think that I was 
right. . . . 

In the varying and repeatedly shifting scenes of the pres- 
ent, and without a precedent which could enable me to judge 
by the past, it has seemed fitting that, before speaking upon 
the difficulties of the country, I should have gained a view of 
the whole field, being at liberty to modify and change the 
course of policy as future events may make a change neces- 
sary. 

I have not maintained silence from any want of real anx- 
iety. It is a good thing that there is no more than anxiety, 
for there is nothing going wrong. It is a consoling circum- 
stance that when we look out there is nothing that really 
hurts anybody. We entertain different views upon political 
questions, but nobody is suffering anything. This is a most 
consoling circumstance, and from it we may conclude that 
all we want is time, patience, and a reliance on that God who 
has never forsaken this people. 

A hostile press took the phrases " there is nothing going 
wrong " — " there is nothing that really hurts anybody " — 
" nobody is suffering anything," and used them apart from 
the context, to prove that the President-elect did not grasp 



MK LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 417 

the situation. At Newark, New Jersey, a week later, just be- 
fore the presidential party passed through, a poster appeared 
in the town quoting these sentences and calling on the unem- 
ployed to meet at the station when Mr. Lincoln's train ar- 
rived and show the President that " they emphatically dif- 
fered from these sentiments." Nothing came of this attempt 
to create a disturbance. 

On Thursday morning, February 14, the presidential 
party was again cii route, this time bound for Pittsburg. 
Lincoln must have made this journey with a lighter heart 
than that of the day before, for the danger that the count- 
ing of the electoral vote would be interfered with, was now 
over. The night before at Columbus, he had received a tele- 
gram which read : " The votes have been peaceably counted. 
You are elected." The ceremony had passed off without in- 
cident. 

At Pittsburg, where the night of the 14th was spent, the 
President spoke to an immense crowd, and as the issue in 
Pennsylvania had been so largely protection, it was to that 
doctrine that he gave his chief attention. Nothing could 
have pleased the Iron City better. The people were so wild 
with enthusiasm that it took the combined efforts of the po- 
lice and militia to get the presidential party on the train and 
out of town. 

From the hour that Lincoln's coercion remarks at Indian- 
apolis reached the country, he had received telegraphic con- 
gratulations and remonstrances at almost every stop of the 
train. The remarks at Columbus produced a similar result, 
and he seems to have concluded at this point to make his fu- 
ture speeches more general. At Cleveland, Buffalo, Albany, 
and New York there was nothing in what he said that his 
enemies could fasten on. His journey from Pittsburg east- 
ward was in no way different from what it had been pre- 
viously. There were the same crowds of people at every 



41 8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

station, the same booming- of cannon, gifts of flowers, recep 
tions at hotels, breakfasts, dinners, and kincheons with loaij 
magnates. All along the route in the East, as in the West-, 
the people were out; everywhere there were flags and ban- 
ners and mottoes. The party in the train continued to 
change as it had done, committees and " leading citizens " 
replacing each other in rapid succession. None of these 
accessions aroused more interest among the other members 
of the party than Horace Greeley, who appeared unexpect- 
edly at Girard, Ohio, bag and blankets in hand, and after 
a ride of twenty miles with Mr. Lincoln, departed. 

At Buffalo, where Mr. Lincoln spoke on Saturday, the 
1 6th, a bit of A-ariety was infused into the celebration by the 
fulfilment of an election wager. The loser was to saw a cord 
of wood in front of the American House and present it to 
the poorest negro to be found. He accordingly appeared 
with a wagon-load of cord-wood just before Mr. Lincoln 
began his speech from the hotel balcony, and during the ad- 
dress sawed vigorously. 

The journey through New York State, with the elaborate 
ceremonies at Albany and New York City, occupied three 
days, and it was not until the evening of February 21 that 
Lincoln reached Philadelphia. The day had been a hard one. 
He had left New York early, had replied to greetings at Jer- 
sey City and again at Newark, had addressed both branches 
of the New Jersey Legislature at Trenton and gone through 
a formal dinner there, and now, though it was dark and cold, 
he was obliged to ride in state through the streets of Phila- 
delphia to his hotel, where hundreds of visitors soon were 
surging in to shake his hand. The hotel was still crowded 
with guests when he was summoned to the room of one of 
his party, Mr. Norman Judd. There he was introduced to 
Mr. Allan Pinkerton, who, as Mr. Judd explained, was a 
Chicago detective and had a story to lay before him. 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 419 

"Pinkerton informed me," said Mr. Lincoln afterwards, 
in relating the affair to Benson J. Lossing, " that a |)lan 
had been laid for my assassination, the exact time when I 
expected to go through Baltimore being publicly known. 
He was well informed as to the plan, but did not know that 
the conspirators would have pluck enough to execute it. He 
urged me to go right through with him to Washington that 
night. I did not like that. I had made engagements to visit 
Harrisburg, and go from there to Baltimore, and I resolved 
to do so. 1 could not believe that there was a plot to murder 
me. I made arrangements, however, with Mr. Judd for my 
return to Piiiladelphia the next night, if I should be con- 
vinced that there was danger in going tin^ough Baltimore. 
I told him that if I should meet at Harrisburg, as I had at 
other places, a delegation to go with me to the next place 
(then Baltimore), I should feel safe, and go on." 

Mr. Lincoln left Mr. Pinkerton, and started to his room. 
On the way he met Ward Lamon, also a member of his party, 
who introduced Frederick Seward, the son of the Senator. 
Mr. Seward, who relates this story in his life of his 
father, told Mr. Lincoln that he had a letter for him 
from his father. The letter informed Mr. Lincoln that Gen- 
eral Scott and Colonel Stone, the latter the officer command- 
ing the District of Columbia militia, had just received infor- 
mation which seemed to them convincing, that a plot existed 
in Baltimore to murder him on his way through that city. 
Mr. Seward besought the President to change his plan and 
go forward secretly. 

Mr. Lincoln read the note through twice slowly and 
thoughtfully ; then looked up, and said to Mr. Seward, " Do 
you know anything about the way this information was ob- 
tained ? " 

No, Mr. Seward knew nothing. 

" Did you hear any names mentioned ? Did you, for in- 
stance, ever hear anything said about such a name as Pin- 
kerton?" 



420 LIFE OP LINCOLN 

No, Mr. Seward had heard no names mentioned save 
those of General Scott and Colonel Stone. 

" I may as well tell why I ask," said Mr. Lincoln. " There 
were stories and rumors some time ago, before I left home, 
about people who were intending to do me a mischief. I 
never attached much importance to them — never wanted to 
believe any such thing. So I never would do anything about 
them in the way of taking precautions and the like. Some 
of my friends, though, thought differently — Judd and others 
■ — and, without my knowledge, they employed a detective to 
look into the matter. It seems he has occasionally reported 
what he found ; and only to-day, since we arrived at this 
house, he brought this story, or something similar to it, about 
an attempt on my life in the confusion and hurly-burly of 
the reception at Baltimore." 

" Surely, Mr. Lincoln," said Mr. Seward, " that is a strong 
corroboration of the news I bring you." 

He smiled, and shook his head. " That is exactly why I 
was asking you about names. If different persons, not know- 
ing of each other's work, have been pursuing separate clews 
that led to the same result, why, then, it shows there must 
be something in it. But if this is only the same story, fil- 
tered through two channels, and reaching me in two ways, 
then that don't make it any stronger. Don't you see? " 

After a little further discussion of the subject, Mr. Lin- 
coln rose and said: " Well, we haven't got to decide it to- 
night, anyway, and I see it is getting late. You need not 
think I will not consider it well. I shall think it over care- 
fully, and try to decide it right; and I will let you know in 
the morning." 

The next day was Washington's birthday. The hauling 
down of the Stars and Stripes in the South and the substi- 
tuting of State flags had stirred the North deeply. The day 
the first Palmetto Flag was raised in South Carolina, a new 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 421 

reverence for the national emblem was born in the North. 
The flag began to appear at every window, in every but- 
tonhole. On January 29 Kansas was admitted into the 
Union, without slavery, thus adding a new star to the thirty- 
three then in the field; and for raising the new flag thus 
made necessary, Washington's birthday became almost a 
universal choice. In Philadelphia, it was arranged that the 
new flag for Independence Hall be raised by Mr. Lincoln. 
The ceremony took place at seven o'clock in the morning. 
Mr. Lincoln's brief speech was one of the best received of all 
he made on the journey : 

I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself standing 
in this place, where were collected together the wisdom, the 
patriotism, the devotion to principle from which sprang the 
institutions under which we live. You have kindly sug- 
gested to me that in my hands is the task of restoring peace to 
our distracted country. I can say in return, sir, that all the 
political sentiments I entertain have been drawn, so far as I 
have been able to draw them, from the sentiments which 
originated in and w^re given to the world from this hall. I 
have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from 
the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence. 
I have often pondered over the dangers which were incurred 
by the men who assembled here and framed and adopted 
that Declaration. I have pondered over the toils that were 
endured by the officers and soldiers of the army who achieved 
that independence. I have often inquired of myself what 
great principle or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so 
long together. It w^as not the mere matter of separation of 
the colonies from the motherland, but that sentiment in the 
Declaration of Independence which gave liberty not alone 
to the people of this country, but hope to all the world, for 
all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due 
time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all 
men, and that all should have an equal ciiance. This is the 
sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence. 
Now. my friends, can this country be saved on that basis? 



422 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

If it can, I will consider myself one of the happiest men in the 
world if I can help to save it. If it cannot be saved upon that 
principle, it will be truly awful. But if this country cannot be 
saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say I 
would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it. 
Now, in my \iew of the present aspect of affairs, there is no 
need of bloodshed and war. There is no necessity for it. 
I am not in favor of such a course, and I may say in advance 
that there will be no bloodshed unless it is forced upon the 
government. The government will not use force, unless 
force is used against it. 

My friends, this is wholly an unprepared speech. I did not 
expect to be called on to say a word when I came here. I 
supposed I was merely to do something toward raising a 
flag. I may, therefore, have said something indiscreet. 
[Cries of " No, no."] But I have said nothing bu*^ what I 
am willing to live by, and, if it be the pleasure of Almighty 
God, to die by. 

It was after returning from the flag-raising at Philadel- 
phia that Lincoln told his friends that he had decided to go 
on to Washington at whatever time they thought best after 
his only remaining engagement was filled; viz., to meet and 
address the Pennsylvania Legislature at Harrisburg that 
afternoon. The engagement was carried out, and late in 
the afternoon he was free. It had been arranged that he 
leave Harrisburg secretly at six o'clock in the evening with 
Colonel Lamon, the rest of his party to know nothing of his 
departure. But Mr. Lincoln did not like to go without at 
least informing his companions, and asked that they be 
called. " I reckon they'll laugh at us, Judd," he said, " but 
you had better get them together." Several of the party, 
when told of the ])roject, opposed it violently, arguing that 
it would expose Mr. Lincoln to ridicule and to the charge of 
cowardice. He, however, answered that unless there was 
something besides ridicule to fear, he was disposed to carry 
out Mr. Judd's plan. 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 423 

At six o'clock he left his hotel by a back door, bareheaded, 
a soft hat in his pocket, and entering a carriage, was driven 
to the station, where a car and engine, unlighted save for a 
headlight, awaited him. A few minutes after eleven o'clock, 
he was in Philadelphia, where the night train for Washing- 
ton was being held by order of the president of the road for 
an " important package," This package was delivered to 
the conductor as soon as it was known that Mr. Lincoln was 
on the train. At six o'clock the next morning, after an un- 
disturbed night, he was in Washington, where Mr. Wash- 
burne and Mr. Seward met him, and, with devout thanks- 
giving, conducted him to Willard's Hotel, there to remain 
until after the inauguration. 

There were still nine days before the inauguration, and 
nine busier days Mr. Lincoln had not spent since his elec- 
tion. He was obliged to make visits to President Buchanan, 
Congress and the Supreme Court, and under Mr. Seward's 
guidance, this was done at once. He received, too, great 
numbers of visitors, including many delegations and com- 
mittees. The Hon. James Harlan, of Iowa, at that time 
United States Senator, called on Mr. Lincoln on February 
23, the day of his arrival. *' He was overwhelmed with 
callers," says Mr. Harlan. " The room in which he 
stood, the corridors and halls and stairs leading to it, were 
crowded full of people, each one, apparently, intent on ob- 
taining an opportunity to say a few words to him privately." 

It was in these few days before his inauguration that the 
great fight over the future Cabinet was made. As we have 
seen, Lincoln had made his selections, subject to events, be- 
fore he left Springfield. When he reached Washington he 
sought counsel on his proposed appointments from great 
numbers of the leading men of the country. If they did not 
come to him, he went to them. Thus ex-Senator Harlan, in 
an unpublished manuscrit>f " Recollections of Abraham Lin- 



424 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

coin,'* tells how the President-elect sounded him on the Cabi- 
net. " A page came to me at my desk in the Senate Cham- 
ber," writes Mr. Harlan, " and said, ' The President-elect is 
in the President's room and wishes to see you.' I confess 
that I felt a little flurried by this announcement. I had not 
been accustomed to being called in by Presidents of the 
United States ; hence, to gain a little time for self-composure, 
I said to the little page, ' How do you know that the Presi- 
dent-elect wishes to see me? * ' Oh,' said he, ' his messen- 
ger came to the door of the Senate Chamber, and sent me to 
tell you.' * All right,' said I. * You may tell the President's 
messenger that I will call immediately,' which, of course, I 
did without the least delay. 

** I was received by the President in person, who, after the 
ordinary greetings, offered me a seat, and seated himself 
near me. No one else was in the room. He commenced the 
conversation, saying in a half-playful, half-serious tone and 
manner, * I sent for you to tell me whom to appoint as mem- 
bers of my Cabinet.' I responded, saying, * Mr. President, 
as that duty, under the Constitution, devolves, in the first 
instance, on the President, I have not given to the subject a 
serious thought ; I have no names to suggest, and expect to 
be satisfied with your selections.' He then said he had about 
concluded to nominate William H. Seward, of New York, as 
Secretary of State; Edward Bates, of Missouri, for Attor- 
ney-General ; Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana, for Secretary of 
the Interior ; Gideon Welles, of Connecticut, for Secretary of 
the Navy; Montgomery Blair, of Maryland, for Postmaster- 
General ; and that he thought he ought to appoint Simon 
Cameron, of Pennsylvania, and Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, 
for the remaining two places, but was in doubt which one to 
offer Mr. Cameron and would like to have me express my 
opinion frankly on the point. 

" * Well,' said I. ' Mr. President, if that is the only ques- 



MR. LINCOLN AS PRESIDENT-ELECT 425 

tion involved, I have not the slightest doubt that Mr. Chase 
ought to be made Secretary of the Treasury,' and then 1 pro- 
ceeded to mention, without hesitation or reserve, my reasons 
for this opinion. He thanked me cordially for my frankness. 
I took my leave. This interview lasted probably about ten or 
fifteen minutes." 

Not all of those with whom Mr. Lincoln talked about his 
Cabinet professed, like Senator Harlan, to be satisfied with 
his selections. Radical Republicans, mistrusting Seward's 
spirit of compromise, besought him to take Chase and drop 
Seward altogether. Conservatives, on the contrary, fear- 
ing Chase's implacable " no compromise " spirit, urged Lin- 
coln to omit him from the Cabinet Seward finally, on March 
2, probably thinking to force Lincoln's hand, withdrew his 
consent to take an appointment. He said later that he feared 
a " compound Cabinet '" and did not wish to " hazard " him- 
self in the experiment. This action brought no immediate 
reply from Mr, Lincoln. He simply left Seward's name 
where he had placed it at the head of the slate. The struggle 
over Cameron's appointment, which had been going on for 
more than two months, now culminated in a desperate en- 
counter. The appointment of Blair was hotly contested. 
Caleb Smith's seat was disputed by Schuyler Colfax. In 
short, it was a day-and-night battle of the factions of the 
Republican party, which raged around Lincoln from the hour 
he appeared in Washington until the hour of his inaugura- 
tion. 

In spite of all the arguments and threats from excited and 
earnest men, to whicli he listened candidly and patiently; 
Lincoln found himself, on the eve of his inauguration, with 
the Cabinet which he had selected four months before un- 
changed. This fact, had it been known, might have modified 
somewhat the opinion expressed generally at the time, that 
the new- President would never be anything but the tool of 



426 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Chase or Seward, or of whoever proved to be the strong man 
of his Cabinet — that is, if he was ever inaugurated^ Of 
this last many had doubts, and even, at the last hour, were 
betting in the hotel corridors and streets of Washington that 
Abraham Lincoln would never be President of the United 
states* 



THE LIFE 

OF 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



VOLUME II 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY . CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 




Mil': MA-'K nl l.lNrol.N. I S6(). AC.U 5I 

Made ill ISOO by Leouard W. Volk of Chieag... Fn.iu a photograph. 



The LIFE of 

ABRAHAM 
LINCOLN 



DRAWN /r^w original SOURCES 
and co?itaining znany SPEECH ES, 
LETTERS and TELEGRAMS 

hitherto iinpublishedy a?id illustrated 
with many reproductions Jrom original 
Paintings^ Photographs^ et cetera 
New Edition with New Matter 

BY 

IDA M. TARBELL 

Volume Two 

New York 
The Macmillan Company 

MCMXXIII 

All rights reserved 



Copyright, 1895, 1896, 1898, 1899 
By The S. S. McClure Co. 



Copyright, 1900 
By DouBLEDAY & McClure Co. 



Copyright, 1900 
By McClure, Phillips & Co. 



NEW EDITION WITH NEW MATTER 

Copyright, 191 7 

By The Macmillan Company 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

XXII. The first inauguration of Lincoln — The relief of Fort 
Sumter — Seward's ambition to control the adminis- 
tration ---------I 

XXIII. The beginning of civil war ------ ^3 

XXIV. The failure of Fremont — Lincoln's first difficulties with 

McClellan— The death of Willie Lincoln - - - 6l 

XXV. Lincoln and emancipation ------ 93 

XXVI. Lincoln's search for a General - - - _ . 127 

XXVII. Lincoln and the soldiers -..--_ 146 

XXVIII. Lincoln's re-election in 1864 ------ 170 

XXIX. Lincoln's work in the winter of 1864-65 — his second in- 
auguration --------- 205 

XXX. The end of the war ------- 230 

XXXI. Lincoln's funeral -------- 245 

Appendix ------------ 263 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Life Mask of Lincoln, t86o Frontispiece 

Facsimile of Fragment of P'irst [n;ui<riiral facin<r lo 

Mary Todd Lincoln, Wife of the I'resident facing 24 

Lincoln Early in 186 1 facing 40 

Lincoln in 1861 facing 100 

First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation before the Cabinet, 

September 20, 1862 between pages 1 16-1 17 

Lincoln at McClellan's Headquarters, Antietam, October 3, 1862. 

facing 130 
Grand Review of the Army of the Potomac... between pages 142-143 

Note from Lincoln to the Secretary of War 151 

Mr. Lincoln and his Son " Tad " facing ig6 

Legend Scratched on a Window Pane by J. Wilkes Booth 198 

Lincoln in 1864 .facing 220 

The Last Portrait of President Lincoln facing 232 

The Last Bit of Writing Done by Lincoln 237 

Watching at the Bedside of the Dying President on the Night of 

April 14 and i 5, 1865 facing 244 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



CHAPTER XXII 



THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN THE RELIEF OF 

FORT SUMTER SEWARD's AMBITION TO CONTROL THE 

ADMINISTRATION 

Daybreak of March 4, 1861, found the city of Washing- 
ton astir. The Senate, which had met at seven o'clock the 
night before, was still in session ; scores of persons who had 
come to see the inauguration of the first Republican Presi- 
dent, and who had been unable to find other bed than the 
floor, were walking the streets; the morning trains were 
bringinp^ new crowds. Added to the stir of those who had 
not slept through the night were sounds unusual in Washing- 
ton — the clatter of cavalry, the tramp of soldiers. 

All this morning bustle of the city must have reached the 
ears of the President-elect, at his rooms in Willard's Hotel, 
where from an early hour he had been at work. An amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the United States had passed the 
Senate in the all-night session, and as it concerned the sub- 
ject of his inaugural, he must incorporate a reference to it in 
the address. Then he had not replied to the note he had 
received two days before from Mr. Seward, asking to be 
released from his promise to accept the portfolio of State. 
He could wait no longer. " I can't afford," he said to Mr. 
Nicolay, his secretary, " to let Seward take the first trick." 
And he despatched the following letter : 
(i) 



2 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

My dear Sir : Your note of the 2d instant, asking to with- 
draw your acceptance of my inxitation tu take charge of the 
State Department, was duly received. It is the subject of 
the most painful solicitude with me, and 1 feel constrained 
to beg that you will countermand the withdrawal. The pub- 
lic interest, I think, demands that you should ; and my per- 
sonal feelings are deeply enlisted in the same direction. 
Please consider and answer by 9 a. m. to-morrow\ Your 
obedient servant, A. Lincoln. 

At noon, Mr. Lincoln's work was interrupted. The Presi- 
dent of the United States was announced. Mr. Buchanan 
had come to escort his successor to the Cai)itol. The route of 
the procession was the historic one over which almost every 
President since Jefferson had travelled to take his oath of 
office ; but the scene Mr. Lincoln looked upon as his carriage 
rolled up the avenue was very different from that upon which 
one looks to-day. No great blocks lined the streets ; instead, 
the buildings were low, and there were numerous vacant 
spaces. Instead of asphalt, the carriage passed over cobble- 
stones. Nor did the present stately and beautiful approach 
to the Capitol exist. The west front rose abrupt and stiff 
from an unkept lawn. The great building itself was still un- 
completed, and high above his head Mr. Lincoln could see 
the swinging arm of an enormous crane rising from the 
unfinished dome. 

But, as he drove that morning from Willard's to the Capi- 
tol, the President-elect saw far more significant sights than 
these. Closed about his carriage, "' so thickly," complained 
the newspapers, " as to hide it from view," was a protecting 
guard. Stationed at intervals along the avenue were pla- 
toons of soldiers. At every corner were mounted orderlies. 
On the very roof-tops were groups of riflemen. When Lin- 
coln reached the north side of the Capitol, wMiere he de- 
scended to enter the building, he found a board tunnel. 



THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 3 

strongly guarded at its mouth, through which he passed into 
the building. If he had taken pains to inquire what means 
had been provided for protecting his life while in the build- 
ing, he would have been told that squads of riflemen were in 
each wing; that under the platform from which he was to 
speak were fifty or sixty armed soldiers; that General Scott 
and two batteries of flying artillery were in adjacent streets; 
and that a ring of volunteers encircled the waiting crowd. 
The tboroughness with which these guards did their work 
may be judged liy the experience which Colonel Clark E. 
Carr, of Illinois, tells: 

" I was only a young man then," says Colonel Carr, " and 
this was the first inauguration I had ever attended. I came 
because it was Lincoln's. For three years Lincoln had been 
my political idol, as he had been that of many young men in 
the West. The first debate I heard between him and Douglas 
had converted me from popular sovereignty, and after that 
I had followed him all over the State, so fascinated was I by 
his logic, his manner, and his character. 

" Well, I went to Washington, but somehow, in the in- 
terest of the procession, I failed to get to the Capitol in time 
to find a place within hearing distance; thousands of people 
were packed between me and the stand. I did get, however, 
close to the b.igh double fence which had been bmilt from the 
driveway to the north door. It suddenly occurred to me that, 
if I could scale that wall, I might walk right in after the 
President, perhaps on to the very platform. It wasn't a min- 
ute before I ' shinned ' up and jumped into the tunnel; but 
before I lit on my feet, a half dozen soldiers had me by the 
leg and arms. I suppose they thought I was the agent of the 
long-talked-of plot to cai)ture Washington and kill Mr. Lin- 
coln. Tliey searched me, and then started me to the mouth 
of the tunnel, to take me to the guard-house, but the crowd 
was so thick we couldn't get out. This gave me time, anil I 
finally convinced them that it was really my eagerness to 
hear Mr. Lincoln, and no evil intent, that had brought me in. 
When they finally came to that conclusion; tliey took me 



4 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

around to one of the basement doors on the east side and let 
me out. I got a place in front of Mr. Lincoln, and heard 
every word." 

The precautions taken against the long-threatened at- 
tack on Lincoln's life produced various impressions on 
the throng. Opponents scornfully insisted that the new Ad- 
ministration was " scared." Radical Republicans rejoiced. 
" I was thoroughly convinced at the time," says the Hon. 
James Harlan, at that time a Senator from Iowa, "that Mr. 
Lincoln's enemies meant what they said, and that Gen- 
eral Scott's determination that the inauguration should go off 
peaceably prevented any hostile demonstration." Other sup- 
porters of Mr. Lincoln felt differently. 

" Nothing could have been more ill-advised or more osten- 
tatious," wrote the " Public Man " that night in his " Diary," 
" than the way in which the troops were thrust everywhere 
upon the public attention, even to tlie roofs of the houses 
on Pennsylvania avenue, on which little squads of sharp- 
shooters were absurdly stationed. I never expected to ex- 
perience such a sense of mortification and shame in my own 
country as I felt to-day, in entering the Capitol through 
hedges of marines armed to the teeth. . . . Fortu- 
nately, all passed off well, but it is appalling to think of the 
mischief which might have been done by a single evil-dis- 
posed person to-day. A blank cartridge fired from a window 
on Pennsylvania avenue might have disconcerted all our 
hopes, and thrown the whole country into inextricable con- 
lusion. That nothing of the sort was done, or even so much 
as attempted, is the most conclusive evidence that could be 
asked of the groundlessness of the rumors and old women's 
tales on the strength of which General Scott has been led into 
this great mistake." 

Arm in arm with Mr. Buchanan, Mr, Lincoln passed 



THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 5 

through the long tunnel erected for his protection, entered 
the Capitol, and passed into the Senate Chamber, filled to 
overflowing with Senators, members of the Diplomatic 
Corps, and visitors. The contrast between the two men as 
they entered struck every observer. " Mr. Buchanan v/as so 
withered and bowed with age," wrote George W. Julian, of 
Indiana, who was among the spectators, " that in contrast 
with the towering form of Mr. Lincoln he seemed little more 
than half a man." 

A few moments' delay, and the movement from the Senate 
towards the east front began, the justices of the Supreme 
Court, in cap and gown, heading the procession. As soon 
as the large company was seated on the platform erected on 
the east portico of the Capitol, Mr. Lincoln arose and ad- 
vanced to the front, where he was introduced by his friend, 
Senator Baker, of Oregon. He carried a cane and a little 
roll — the manuscript of his inaugural address. There was 
a moment's pause after the introduction, as he vainly looked 
for a spot where lie might place his high silk hat. Stephen 
A. Douglas, the political antagonist of his whole public life, 
the man who had pressed him hardest in the campaign of 
i860, was seated just behind him. Douglas stepped forward 
quickly, and took the hat which Mr. Lincoln held lielplessly 
in his hand. " If I can't be President," he whispered smil- 
ingly to Mrs. Brown, a cousin of Mrs. Lincoln and a mem- 
ber of the President's party, " I at least can hold his hat." 

This simple act of courtesy was really the most significant 
incident of the day, and after the inaugural the most dis- 
cussed. 

" Douglas's conduct can not be overpraised," wrote nie 
" Public Man " in his " Diary." " I saw him for a moment 
in the morning, when he told me that he meant to put him- 
self as prominently forward in the ceremonies as he properly 
could, and to leave no doubt on any one's mind of his de- 



6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

termination to stand by the new Administration in the per- 
formance of its first great duty to maintain tlie Union." 

Adjusting his spectacles and unrolHng his manuscript, the 
President-elect turned his eyes upon the faces of the throng 
before him. It was the largest gathering that had been seen 
at any inauguration up to that date, variously estimated at 
from fifty thousand to one hundred thousand. Who of the 
men that composed it were his friends, who his enemies, he 
could not tell; but he did know that almost every one of 
them was waiting with painful eagerness to hear what 
answer he would make there to the questions they had been 
hurling at his head since his election. 

Six weeks before, when he wrote the document, he had 
determined to answer some of their questions. The first of 
these was, " Will Mr. Lincoln stand by the platform of the 
Republican party? " He meant to open his address with this 
reply : 

The [more] modern custom of electing a Chief Magistrate 
upon a previously declared platform of prmciples supersedes, 
in a great measure, the necessity of restating those principles 
in an address of this sort. Upon the plainest grounds of 
good faith, one so elected is not at liberty to shift his posi- 
tion 

Having been so elected upon the Chicago platform, and 
while I would repeat nothing in it of aspersion or epithet or 
question of motive against any man or party, I hold myself 
bound by duty, as well as impelled by inclination, to follow, 
within the executive sphere, the principles therein declared. 
By no other course could I meet the reasonable expectations 
of the country. 

But these paragraphs were not read. On reaching Wash- 
ington in February, Mr. Lincoln's first act had been to give 
to Mr. Seward a copy of the paper he had prepared, and to 
ask for his criticisms. Of the paragraphs quoted above, Mr. 
Seward wrotej 



THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 7 

I declare to you my conviction that the second and third 
paragraphs, even if modified as I propose in my amendments, 
will give such advantages to the Disunionists that Vngmia 
and Maryland will secede, and we shall, within ninety, per- 
haps wathin sixty, days, he obliged to figlit tlie South for this 
Capital, with a divided North for our reliance. 

Mr. Lincoln dropped the paragraphs, and began, by an- 
swering another question : " Does the President intend to 
interfere with the property of the South ? " 

"Apprehension seems to exist," lie said, " among the peo- 
ple of the Southern States that by the accession of a Repub- 
lican administration their property and then- peace and per- 
sonal security are to be endangered. There has never been 
any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the 
most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed 
and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all 
the published speeches of him wdio now addresses you. I 
do but quote from one of those speeches wlien I declare that 
* I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with 
the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I 
believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inchna- 
tion to do so. Those who nominated and elected me did so 
with full knowledge that I had made this and many similar 
declarations, and had never recanted them." 

He followed this conciliatory statement by a full answer 
to the question, " Will Mr. Lincoln repeal the fugitive slave 
laws ?" 

*' There is much controversy about the delivering up of 
fugitives from service or labor. The clause I now read is as 
plainly written in the Constitution as any o^.hcr of its pro- 
visions : 

" ' No person held to service or labor in one State, under 
the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in conscciucnce 
of any lav/ or regulation therein, be discharged from such 
service or labor, but shnll be delivered ui> on claim of tlie 
party to whom such service or labor may be due.' 

" It is scarcely c^uestioned that this provision was intended 



8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call 
fugitive slaves, and the intention of the lawgiver is the law. 
All members of Congress swear their support to the whole 
Constitution — to this provision as much as to any other. To 
the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within 
the terms of this clause ' shall be delivered up,' their oaths are 
unanimous. " 

Next he took up the question of Secession, " Has a State 
the right to go out of the Union if it wants to ? " 

I hold that, in contemplation of universal law and of 
the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual. 
Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental 
law of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no 
government proper ever had a provision in its organic law 
for its own termination. . . . Again, if the United 
States be not a government proper, but an association of 
States in the nature of contract merely, can it, as a contract, 
be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made 
it? One party to a contract may violate it — break it, so to 
speak; but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it? 
. . . It follows from these views that no State, upon its 
own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union; that 
resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void; and 
that acts of violence, within any State or States, against the 
authority of the United States, are insurrectionary or revolu- 
tionary, according to circumstances. 

The answer to this question led him directly to the point 
on which the public was most deeply stirred at that moment. 
What did he intend to do about enforcing laws in States 
which had repudiated Federal authorit}^; what about the 
property seized by the Southern States ? 

" .... to the extent of my ability," he answered, 
" I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins 
upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed 
in all the States. Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty 
on my part; and I shall perform it so far as practicable, un- 



THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 9 

less my rightful masters, the American people, shall with- 
hold the requisite means, or in some authoritative manner 
direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a 
menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that 
it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself. 

" In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence; 
and there shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national 
authority. The power confided to me will be used to 
hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging 
to the government, and to collect the duties and imi)osts ; but 
beyond what may be necessary f()r these objects, there will 
be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people 
anywhere." 

In his original copy of the inaugural address Mr. Lincoln 
wrote, " All the power at my disposal will be used to reclaim 
the public property and places which have fallen; to hold, oc- 
cupy, and possess these, and all other property and places be- 
longing to the government." At the suggestion of his friend, 
the Hon, O. H. Browning, of Illinois, he dropped the words 
" to reclaim the public property and places which have 
fallen." Mr. Seward disapproved of the entire selection and 
prepared a non-committal substitute. Mr. Lincoln, how- 
ever, retained his own sentences. 

The foregoing quotations are a fairly complete expression 
of what may be called Mr. Lincoln's policy at the beginning 
of his administration. He followed this statement of his 
principle by an appeal and a warning to those who really 
loved the Union and who yet were ready for the " destruc- 
tion of the national fabric with all its benefits, its memories 
and its hopes." 

" Will you hazard so desperate a step while there is any 
possibility that any portion of the ills you fly from have no 
real existence? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to are 
greater than all the real ones you fly from — will you risk the 
commission of so fearful a mistake? 



lO LIFE OF LINCOLN 

" Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot re- 
move our respective sections from each other, nor htiikl an 
nnpassable wall between them. A husband and wife may 
be divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the reach 
of each other; Ijut the different parts of our country cannot 
do this. They cannot but remain face to face, and inter- 
course, either amicable or hostile, must continue between 
them. Is it possible, tlien, to make that intercourse more 
advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than be- 
fore? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can 
make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced be- 
tween aliens than laws can among friends? Sui)pose you 
go to war, you cannot fight always ; and when, after much 
loss on botli sides, and n.o gain on either, you cease fighting, 
the identical old cjuestions as to terms of intercourse are 
again upon you. .... 

W'liy should there not be a patient confidence in the ulti- 
mate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope 
in the world ? In our present differences is either party with- 
out faith of being in the right? If the Almighty Ruler of 
Nations, with His eternal truth and justice, be on your side 
of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth and that 
justice will surely prevail by the judgment of this great 
tribunal of the American people. . 

My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and zvcll upon 
this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking 
time. If there be an object to hurry any of you in hot haste 
to a step whicli you would never take deliberately, that ob- 
ject w^ill be frustrated by taking time; but no good object 
can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now dissatisfied, 
still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sen- 
sitive point, the laws of your own framing under it ; while 
the new administration w ill have no immediate power, if it 
would, to change either. If it were admitted that you who 
are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there still 
is no single good reason for precipitate action. Intelligence, 
patriotism,* Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has 
never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to 
adjust in the best way all our present difficulty. 

In YOUR hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and 



THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN IZ 

not in MINE is the momentous issue of civil war. The gov- 
ernment will not assail you. You can have no conflict with- 
out being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath 
registered in heaven to destroy the government, while / 
shall have the most solemn one to " preserve, protect, and 
defend it." 

With this last paragraph Mr. Lincoln had meant to close 
this his first address to the nation. Mr. Seward objected, 
and submitted two suggestions for a closing; one of his 
paragraphs read as follows : 

I close. We are not, we must not be, aliens or enemies, 
but fellow-countrymen and brethren. Although passion has 
strained our bonds of affection too hardly, they must not, I 
am sure they will not be broken. The mystic chords which, 
proceeding from so many battlefields and so many patriotic 
graves, pass through all the hearts and all hearths in this 
broad continent of ours, will yet again harmonize in tlieir 
ancient music when breathed upon by the guardian angel of 
the nation. 

Mr, Lincoln made a few changes in the paragraphs quoted, 
and rewrote the above suggestion of ]\Ir. Seward, making of 
it the now famous closing words :* 

I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We 
must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it 
must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords 
of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot 
grave to every living heart and liearthstone all over this 
broad land, will vet swell the chorus of the Union wlicn 
again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of 
our nature. 

" Mr. Lincoln read his inaugural," savs IMr. Harlan in 
his unpublished " Recollections of Abraham Lincoln," " in 

* The reader interested in the first inaugural (if i\fr. Uncoln should 
not iail to read tlie achnirahle chapter on the suliject nt Vol. ill. of 
Nicolay and Hay's Life of Abraham Lincoln, where Mr, Seward^s criti- 
cisms are given in full. 



12 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

a clear, distinct, and musical voice, which seemed to be heard 
and distinctly understood to the very outskirts of this vast 
concourse of his fellow-citizens. At its conclusion, he turned 
partially around on his left, facing the justices of the Su- 
preme Court, and said, ' I am now ready to take the oath 
prescribed by the Constitution,' which was then administered 
by Chief Justice Taney, the President saluting the Bible with 
his lips. 

" xA-t that moment, in response to a signal, batteries of field 
guns, stationed a mile or so away, commenced firing a na- 
tional salute, in honor of the nation's new chief. And Mr. 
Buchanan, now a private citizen, escorted President Lincoln 
to the Executive Mansion, followed by a multitude of peo- 
ple." 

" What do you think of it? " was the question this crowd 
was asking as it left the scene of the inauguration. Through- 
out the day, on every corner of Washington, and by night on 
every corner of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Buffalo, 
and every other city and town of the country reached by the 
telegraph, men were asking the same question. The an- 
swers showed tliat the address was not the equivocal docu- 
ment ]\Ir. Seward had tried to make it. 

" It is marked," said tlie New York " Tribune " of March 
5, '' by no fcel)le expression. ' He who runs may read ' it; 
and to twenty millions of people it \\\\\ carry the tidings, 
good or not, as the case may be, that the Federal Government 
of the United States is still in existence, with a Man at Lhe 
head of it." 

" The inaugural is not a crude performance," said the New 
York "Herald;" "it abounds in traits of craft and cun- 
ning ; it is neither candid nor statesmanlike, nor does it pos- 
sess any essential of dignity or patriotism. It would have 
caused a Washington to mourn, and would have inspired 
Jefferson, Madison, or Jackson with contempt." 

" Our community has not been disappointed, and exhibited 



THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 13 

very little feelingf on the subject," telegraphed Charleston, 
South Carolina. " They are content to leave Mr. Lincoln 
and the inaugural in the hands of Jefferson Davis and the 
Congress of the Confederate States." 

" The Pennsylvanian " declared it " a tiger's claw con- 
cealed under the fur of Sewardism." While " The Atlas 
and Argus," of Albany, characterized it as " weak, rambling, 
loose-jointed," and as " inviting civil war." 

From Charleston, South Carolina, came the dispatch, 
" Our community has not been disappointed, and exhibited 
very little feeling on the subject. They are content to leave 
Mr. Lincoln and the inaugural in the hands of Jefferson 
Davis and the Congress of the Confederate States." In New 
Orleans the assertion that the ordinance was void and that 
Federal property must be taken and held was considered a 
declaration of war. At Montgomery the head of the Con- 
federacy, the universal feeling provoked by the inaugural was 
that war was inevitable. 

The literary form of the document aroused general com- 
ment. 

" The style of the address is as characteristic as its tem- 
per," said the Boston " Transcript," " It has not one fawn- 
ing expression in the whole course of its firm and explicit 
statements. The language is level to the popular mind — the 
plain, homespun language of a man accustomed to talk with 
* the folks ' and ' the neighbors; ' the language of a man of 
vital common-sense, whose words exactly fit in his facts and 
thoughts." 

This " homespun language " was a shock to many. The 
Toronto " Globe " found the address of " a tawdry, corrupt, 
school-boy style." And ex-President Tyler complained to 
Francis Lieber of its grammar. Lieber replied : 

" You complain of the bad grammar of President Lin- 
coln's message. We have to look at other thmgs, just now. 



14 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

than grammar. For aught I know, the last resolution of the 
South Carolina Convention may have been worded in suffi- 
ciently good grammar, but it is an attempt, unique in its dis- 
gracefulness, to whitewash an act of the dirtiest infamy. 
Let us leave grammar alone in these days of shame, and 
rather ask whether people act according to the first and 
simplest rules of morals and of honor." 

The question which most deeply stirred the countr}', how- 
ever, was " Does Lincoln mean what he says? Will he really 
use the power confided to him to hold, occupy, and possess 
the property and places belonging to the government ? " The 
President was called upon for an answer sooner than he had 
expected. Almost the first thing brought to his attention on 
the morning of his first full day in ofiice (March 5) was 
a letter from Major Robert Anderson, the officer in command 
of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, saying that he had 
but a week's provisions, and that if the place was to be re-en- 
forced so that it could be held, it would take 20,000 " good 
and well-disciplined men " to do it. 

A graver matter the new President could not have been 
called upon to decide, for all the issues between North and 
South were at that moment focused in the fate of Fort Sum- 
ter. A series of dramatic incidents had given the fort this 
peculiar prominence. At the time of Mr. Lincoln's election 
Charleston Harbor was commanded by Major Anderson. 
Although there were three forts in the harbor, but one was 
garrisoned. Fort Moultrie, and that not the strongest in posi- 
tion. Not long after the election Anderson, himself a South- 
erner, thoroughly familiar with the feeling in Charleston, 
wrote the War Department that if the harbor was to be held 
bv the United States, Fort SunUer and Castle Pinckev must 
be garrisoned. Later he rej)eated this warning. President 
Buchanan was loath to heed him. He feared irritating the 
South Carolinians. Instead of re-enforcements he sent An- 



THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 15 

derson orders to hold the forts but to do nothing];- which 
would cause a collision. At the same time he entered into a 
half-contract with the South Carolina Congressmen not to 
re-enforce Anderson if the State did not attack him. All 
through the early winter Anderson remained in Moultrie, 
his position constantly becoming more dangerous. Interest 
in him increased with his peril, and the discussion as to 
whether the government should relieve, recall, or let him 
alone, waxed more and more excited. 

Anderson had seen from the first that if the South Caro- 
linians attempted to seize Moultrie he could not sustain his 
position. Accordingly, on the night of December 26 he 
spiked the guns of that fort and secretly transferred his force 
to Sumter, an almost impregnable position in the centre of 
the harbor. In the South the uproar over this act was terrific. 
The administration was accused of treachery. It in turn cen- 
sured Anderson, though he had acted exactly within his or- 
ders which gave him the right to occupy whichever fort he 
thought best. In the North there was an outburst of exulta- 
tion. It was the first act in defense of United States prop- 
erty, and Anderson became at once a popular hero and re- 
enforcements for him were vehemently demanded. 

Early in January Buchanan yielded to the pressure and 
sent the Star of the JJ\^st with supplies. The vessel was 
fired on bv the South Carolinians as she entered the harbor, 
and retired. This hostile act did not quicken the sluggish 
blood of the administration. Indeed, a quasi-agreement with 
the Governor followed, that if the fort was not attacked no 
further attempt would be made to re-enforce it. and there the 
matter stood when Mr. Lincoln on the morning of March 5 
received Anderson's letter. 

What was to be done? The garrison must not be allowed 
to starve; but evidently 20,000 disciplined men could not be 
had to relieve \t— the whole United States army numbered 



l6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

but 16,000. But if Mr. Lincoln could not relieve it, how 
could he surrender it ? The effect of any weakening or com- 
promise in his own position was perfectly clear to him. 
" When Anderson goes out of Fort Sumter," he said rue- 
fully, "I shall have to go out of the WhiteHouse." The exact 
way in which he looked at the matter he stated later to Con- 
gress, in substantially the following words : 

To abandon that position, under the circumstances, would 
have been utterly ruinous ; the necessity under which it was 
done would not have been fully understood; hy many it 
would have been construed as a part of a voluntary policy ; at 
home it would have discouraged the friends of the Union, 
emboldened its adversaries, and gone far to insure to the 
latter a recognition abroad ; in fact, it would have been our 
national destruction consummated. This could not be al- 
lowed. 

In his dilemma he sought the advice of the Commander- 
in-Chief of the Army, General Scott, who told him sadly that 
" evacuation seemed almost inevitable." 

Unwilling to decide at once, Lincoln devised a manoeuvre 
by which he hoped to shift public attention from Fort Sumter 
to Fort Pickens, in Pensacola Harbor. The situation of the 
two forts was similar, although that at Sumter was more 
critical and interested the public far more intensely. It 
seemed to Mr. Lincoln that if Fort Pickens could be re-en- 
forced, this would be a clear enough indication to both sec- 
tions that he meant what he had said in his inaugural ad- 
dress, and after it had been accomplished the North would 
accept the evacuation of Fort Sumter as a military necessity, 
and on March 11 he sent an order that troops which had 
been sent to Pensacola in January by Mr. Buchanan, but 
never landed, should be placed in Fort Pickens. 

As this order went by sea, it was necessarily some time 
before it arrived. Night and day during this interval Lin- 



THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 17 

coin was busy in a series of original investigations of all sides 
of the Sumter question. While doing his utmost to obtain 
such information as would enable him to come to an intelli' 
gent conclusion, he was beset by both North and South. A 
report went out early in the month that Sumter was to be 
evacuated. It could not be verified ; but it spread generally 
until there was, particularly in Washington, around Mr. Lin- 
coln, a fever of excitement. Finally, on March 25, the 
Senate asked for the correspondence of Anderson. The 
President did not believe the time had come, however, to take 
the public into his confidence, and he replied : 

. . . On examination of the correspondence thus called 
for, I have, with the highest respect for the Senate, come to 
the conclusion that at the present moment the publication of 
it would be inexpedient. 

Three days later, March 28, while he still was uncertain 
whether his order had reached Fort Pickens or not. General 
Scott, who was ill, sent a letter over to the White House, 
advising Mr. Lincoln to abandon both Sumter and Pickens. 
Coming from such a source, the letter was a heavy blow to 
the President. One of the men he most trusted had failed to 
recognize that the policy he had laid down in his inaugural 
address was serious and intended to be acted upon. It was 
time to do something. Summoning an ofiiccr from the Navy 
Department, he asked him to prepare at once a plan for a 
relief expedition to Fort Sumter. That night Mr. Lincoln 
gave his first state dinner. It was a large affair, many 
friends besides the members of the Cabinet being present. 
The conversation was animated, and Lincoln was seemingly 
in excellent spirits. W. H. Russell, the correspondent of the 
London "Times," was present, and he notes in his Diary how 
Lincoln used anecdotes in his conversation that evening 1 
(2) 



I8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

" Mr, Bates was remonstrating, apparently, against the 
appointment of some indifferent lawyer to a place of judicial 
importance," says Mr. Russell. " The President interposed 
with, ' Come now, Bates, he's not half as bad as you 
think. Besides that, I must tell you he did me a good turn 
long ago. When I took to the law, I was going to court one 
morning, with some ten or twelve miles of bad road before 
me, and I had no horse. The judge overtook me in his 
wagon. ' Hello, Lincoln ! Are you not going to the court- 
house? Come in, and I'll give you a seat.' Well, I got in, 
and the judge went on reading his papers. Presently the 
wagon struck a stump on one side of the road ; then it hopped 
off to the other. I looked out, and I saw the driver was 
jerking from side to side in his seat; so says I, 'Judge, I 
think your coachman has been taking a little drop too much 
this morning.' ' Well, I declare, Lincoln,' said he, ' I should 
not wonder if you are right ; for he has nearly upset me half a 
dozen times since starting.' So putting his head out of the 
window, he shouted, ' Why, you infernal scoundrel, you are 
drunk!' Upon which, pulling up his horses, and turning 
round with great gravity, the coachman said, ' By gorra ! 
that's the first rightful decision you have given for the last 
twelvemonth.' While the company were laughing, the Pres- 
ident beat a quiet retreat from the neighborhood of the At- 
torney-General." 

Lincoln's story-telling that evening was used, as often hap- 
pened, to cover a serious mental struggle. After many of 
his guests had retired, he called his Cabinet aside, and agi- 
tatedly told them of General Scott's letter. He then asked 
them to meet him the next day. That night the President 
did not close his eyes in sleep. The moment had come, as it 
must come, at one time or another, to every President 
of the United States, when his vote was the only vote in the 
Cabinet — the only vote in the country. The decision and 
orders he should give the next day might plunge the country 
into civil war. Could he escape it? All night he went over 
the problem, but his watch only strengthened his purposa 



THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 19 

When the Cabinet met, the President put the case before 
them in such a Hght that, on his asking the members to give 

him their views, only two, Seward and Smith, opposed the 
rehef of Fort Sumter. 

That day Lincohi gave his order that the expedition be 
prepared and ready to sail on April 6. Two days later, he 
ordered that an expedition for the relief of Fort Pickens be 
prepared. With the latter order he sent a verbal message to 
General Scott : 

Tell him that I wish this thing done, and not to let it fail 
unless he can show that I have refused him something he 
asked for. 

By April 6, news reached Mr. Lincoln from Fort Pick- 
ens. The commander of the vessel on which the troops were 
quartered, acting upon the armistice of Mr. Buchanan, had 
refused to land the re-enforcements. To relieve Sumter was 
the only alternative, and Lincoln immediately ordered for- 
ward the expeditions he had been preparing. At the same 
time he wrote with his own hand instructions for an agent 
whom he sent to Charleston to notify the Governor of South 
Carolina that an effort would be made to supply Fort Sumter 
with provisions only. 

At last it was evident to the members of the Cabinet and to 
others in the secret that Mr. Lincoln did mean what he had 
said in his inaugural address : " The power confided to me 
will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and 
places belonging to the government." 

Mr. Lincoln had another matter on hand at the moment 
as vital as the relief of Sumter — how to prevent further ac- 
cessions to the Southern Confederacy. When he was in- 
augurated, seven of the slave-holding States had left the 
Union. In two others, Virginia and Missouri, conventions 
were in session considering secession; but in both, Union 



20 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

sentiment predominated. Three others, North Carolina, 
Kentucky, and Tennessee, had by popular vote decided to 
hold no convention. Maryland had already held an irregular 
State assembly, but nothing had been accomplished by the 
separatists. Mr. Lincoln's problem was how to strengthen 
this surviving Union sentiment sufficiently to prevent seces- 
sion in case the Administration was forced to relieve Sumter. 
Evidently he could do nothing at the moment but inform 
himself as accurately as possible, by correspondence and con- 
ferences, of the temper of the people and put himself into 
relations with men in each State on whom he could rely in 
case of emergency. He did this with care and persistency, 
and so effectively that later, when matters became more seri- 
ous, visitors from the doubtful States often expressed their 
amazement at the President's knowledge of the sentiments 
and conditions of their parts of the country. 

The first State in which Lincoln attempted any active in- 
terference in favor of the Union was one which had already 
voted itself out, Texas. A conflict had arisen there between 
the Southern party and the Governor, Sam Houston, and on 
March i8 the latter had been deposed. When Mr. Lincoln 
heard of this, he decided to try to get a message to the Gov- 
ernor, offering United States support if he would put himself 
at the head of the Union party of the State. The messenger 
who carried this word to Houston was Mr. G. H. Giddings, 
at that time the holder of the contract for carrying the mails 
by the El Paso route to California. He was taken to the 
White House by his friend Postmaster-General Blair, and 
gives the following account of what occurred at the inter- 
view. It is one of the very few descriptions of Mr. Lincoln 
in a Cabinet meeting which we have : 

I was taken into the Cabinet room, and introduced by the 
Postmaster-General to President Lincoln and all the mem- 
bers of the Cabinet, who were there apparently waiting for 



THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 21 

us. The President asked me to take a seat at the big table 
next to him. He then said to me, " You have been highly 
recommended to me as a reliable man by the Postmaster- 
General, the Hon. G. A. Grow, and others. They tell me 
that you are an old citizen of Texas and about to return to 
your home. My object in wishing to see you is that I desire 
to intrust to you a secret message to Governor Houston." 

I said, " Yes, Mr. President, I should have left to-night 
but for this invitation to call on you, which was a great 
pleasure to me." 

He then asked me a great many questions, where I was 
born, when I went to Texas, what I had been doing there, 
how I liked the State, and what was the public sentiment in 
Texas in regard to the prospects of a war — all of which I 
answered to the best of my ability. 

He then said to me that the message was of such im- 
portance that, before handing it to me, he would read it to 
me. Before beginning to read he said, " This is a confi- 
dential and secret message. No one besides my Cabinet and 
myself knows anything about it, and we are all sworn to 
secrecy. I am going to swear you in as one of my Cabinet." 
And then he said to me in a jocular way, " Hold up your 
right hand," which I did. " Now," said he, "consider your- 
self a member of my Cabinet." 

He then read the message, explaining his meaning at times 
as he was reading it. The message was written in big bold 
hand, on large sheets of paper, and consisted of several pages. 
It w'as signed " A. Lincoln." I cannot give the exact words 
of the message, but the substance was as follows : 

It referred first to the surrender, by General Twiggs, of 
the United States troops, forts, and property in Texas to the 
rebels, and ofi'ered to appoint Governor Houston a major- 
general in the L^nited States army in case he would accept. 
It authorized him to take full command in Texas, taking 
charge of all Government pr(>i)orty and such of the old army 
as he could get together, and to recruit 100,000 men, if pos- 
sible, and to hold Texas in the UnicMi. In case he did accept, 
the President promised to support him with the wliolc power 
of the Government, both of the army and navy. After hear- 
ing the message read, I suggested to the President that it was 



22 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

of such importance that perhaps he had better send it by some 
government official. 

" No," he said. " Those Texans would hang any official 
caught with that paper." 

I replied that they would hang me, too, if they caught me 
with that message. 

" I do not wish to have you hung," he replied ; " and if you 
think there is so much danger, I will not ask you to take it, 
although I am anxious to get it to Governor Houston as soon 
as possible. As you live in Texas and are about to return, I 
was in hopes you would take it." 

" I will take the message with much pleasure," I replied, 
" as you personally request it, and will deliver it safely to 
Governor Houston, only stipulating that it shall remain as 
one of your Cabinet secrets." This he assured me should be 
done. 

I remained there until about midnight. The question of 
war or no war was discussed by different members of the 
Cabinet. Mr. Seward said there would be no war. 
The President said he hoped and prayed that there would 
not be a war. I said to Mr. Seward that, as he knew. Con- 
gress had extended my overland mail contract one contract 
term and doubled the service ; that to put the increased ser- 
vice in operation would cost me over $50,000, which would 
be lost in case of war; and I asked him what I had better 
do. 

" There will be no war," Mr. Seward said ; " go ahead 
and put on the increased service. You will run no risk in 
doing so." He said that Humphrey Marshall and some oth- 
ers, whose names I have forgotten, had left Washington a 
few days before that, to go into the border States and hold 
public meetings and ask the South to meet the North and 
have a National Convention for the purpose of amending the 
Constitution. He had no doul)t, he said, tliat this would be 
done, and that, so far as he was individually concerned, he 
would prefer giving the Southern brothers the parchment 
and let them enter the amendment to the Constitution to suit 
themsehes rather than have a civil war. He said, in all 
probability, some arrangements would be made to pay for 
the sl^.ves and the s^radual abolishment of slavery. 



THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 23 

With these momentous affairs on hand, Lincohi needed 
freedom from trivial and personal matters, if ever a President 
needed it ; yet one who reads the documents of the period 
would infer that his entire time was spent in appointing post- 
masters. There was no escape for him. The office-seekers 
had seized Washington, and were making the White House 
their headquarters. 

" There were days," says William O. Stoddard, " when 
the throng of eager applicants for office filled the broad stair- 
case to its lower stei)s ; the corridors of the first floor; the 
famous East room ; the private parlors ; while anxious groups 
and individuals paraded up and down the outer porch, the 
walks, and the avenue." 

They even attacked Lincoln on the street. One day as his 
carriage rolled up the avenue, a man stopped it and attempted 
to present his application and credentials. " No, no," said 
Mr. Lincoln indignantly, *' I won't open shop in the street." 

This raid had begun in Springfield with the election. As 
Mr. Lincoln had been elected without bargains on his part, 
he did not propose to consider minor appointments until actu- 
ally inaugurated. 

" I have made up my mind," he said to a visitor a few days 
after his election, " not to be badgered about these places. I 
have promised nothing high or low, and will not. By-and- 
by, when I call somebody to me in the character of an ad- 
viser, we will examine the claims to the most responsible 
posts and decide what shall be done. As for the rest, I shall 
have enough to do without reading recommendations for 
country postmasters." 

All of the hundreds who had been put off in the winter, 
now reappeared in Washington. Now, Lincoln had clear no- 
tions of the use of the appointing power. One side should 
not gobble up everything, he declared ; but in the pressure of 



24 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

applications, it gave him the greatest difficulty to prevent this 
" gobbling up." Another rule he had adopted was not to 
appoint over the heads of his advisers. He preferred to win 
their consent to an appointment by tact rather than to make 
it by his own power. A case in point is disclosed in a letter 
he wrote to General Scott, in June, in which he said : 

Doubtless you begin to understand how disagreeable it is 
for me to do a thing arbitrarily when it is unsatisfactory to 
others associated with me. 

I very much wish to appoint Colonel Meigs Quartermas- 
ter-General, and yet General Cameron does not quite consent. 
I have come to know Colonel Meigs quite well for a short 
acquaintance, and, so far as I am capable of judging, I do 
not know one who combines the qualities of masculine intel- 
lect, learning, and experience of the right sort, and physical 
power of labor and endurance, so well as he. 

I know he has great confidence in you, always sustaining, 
so far as I have observed, your opinions against any differ- 
ing ones. 

You will lay me under one more obligation if you can and 
will use your inPuience to remove General Cameron's objec- 
tion. I scarcely need tell you I have nothing personal in this, 
having never seen or heard of Colonel Meigs until about the 
end of last March. 

But that he could appoint arbitrarily is certain from the 
following letter : 

. You must make a job of it, and provide a place 
for the bearer of this, Elias Wampole. Make a job of it with 
the collector and have it done. You can do it for me, and 
you must. 

In spite of the terrible pressure brought to bear upon him 
by the place-hunters; in spite of the frequent dissatisfaction 
his appointments gave, and the abuse the disappointed heaped 
upon him, he rarely lost his patience, rarely was anything but 





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MARY TODD LINCOLN, WIFE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 
From a photograph taken by Brady, in the War Department Collection of Civil War Photographs, 



THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 25 

kind. His sense of humor aided liim wonderfully in this par- 
ticular. The incongruity of a man in his position, and with 
the very life of the country at stake, pausing to appoint post- 
masters, struck him forcibly. " What is the matter, Mr. Lin* 
coin," said a friend one day, when he saw him looking par- 
ticularly grave and dispirited. " Has anything gone wrong 
at the front?" 

" No," said the President, with a tired smile. " It isn't 
the war; it's the post-office at Brownsville, Missouri." 

The " Public Man " relates in his " Diary " the end of an 
interview he and a friend had with the President on 
March 7: 

" He walked into the corridor with us ; and, as he bade us 

good-by and thanked for what he had told him, he 

again brightened up for a moment and asked him in an 
abrupt kind of way, laying his hand as he spoke with a queer 
but not uncivil familiarity on his shoulder, 'You haven't such 

a thing as a postmaster in your pocket, have you ? ' ■ 

stared at him in astonishment, and I thought a little in alarm, 
as if he suspected a sudden attack of insanity; then Mr. Lin- 
coln went on : ' You see it seems to me kind of unnatural 
that you shouldn't have at least a postmaster in your pocket. 
Everybody I've seen for days past has had foreign ministers, 
and collectors, and all kinds, and I thought you couldn't have 
got in here without having at least a postmaster get into 
your pocket ! " 

The " strange bed-fellowa " politics was constantly mak- 
ing always amused him. One day a man turned up who had 
letters of recommendation from the most prominent pair of 
enemies in the Republican party, Horace Greeley and Thur- 
low Weed. The President immediately did what he could 
for him : 

Mr. Adams is magnificently recommended ; but the great 
point in his favor is that Thurlow Weed and Horace Gree- 
ley join in recommending him I suppose the like never 



26 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

happened before, and never will again ; so that it is now or 
never. What say you ? 

A less obvious perplexity than the office-seekers for Mr. 
Lincoln at this period, though a no less real one, was the at- 
titude of his Secretary of State — his cheerful assumption 
that he, not Mr. Lincoln, was the final authority of the ad- 
ministration. 

Mr. Seward had been for years the leader of the Republi- 
can party. His defeat in the Chicago Convention of i860 
had been a terrible blow to a large number of people, though 
Seward himself had taken it nobly. " The Republican party 
was not made for Mr. Seward," he told his friends, " but Mr. 
Seward for the Republican party," and he went heartily into 
the campaign. But he believed, as many Republicans did, 
that Lincoln was unfit for the presidency, and that some one 
of his associates would be obliged to assume leadership. 
When Mr. Seward accepted the Secretaryship of State, he 
evidently did it with the idea that he was to be the Provi- 
dence of the administration. " It is inevitable," he wrote to 
his wife on December 28th, the very day he wrote to Mr. 
Lincoln of his acceptance. " I will try to save freedom and 
my country." A week later he wrote home, " I have as- 
sumed a sort of dictatorship for defense, and am laboring 
night and day with the cities and States. My hope, rather 
my confidence, is unabated." And again, on January i8th; 
" It seems to me if I am absent only eight days, this admin- 
istration, the Congress, and the District would fall into con- 
sternation and despair. I am the only hopeful, calm, coil' 
dilatory person here.** 

When Lincoln arrived in Washington and asked Seward 
to read the inaugural address, the latter gave it the closest 
attention, modifying it to fit his own policy, and in defense 
of the changes he made, he wrote to the President-elect: 
'* Only the soothing words which I have so"k*^n have saved 



THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 2^ 

us and carried us along thus far. Every loyal man, and in- 
deed every disloyal man, in the South will tell you this.'' 

He began his duties as Secretary of State with the same 
confidence in his call to be the real, if not the apparent, head 
of affairs. When the question of relieving Sumter came up, 
he believed that it was he who was managing the matter. 
" I wish I could tell you something of the political troubles 
of the country," he wrote home, " but I cannot find the time. 
They are enough to tax the wisdom of the wisest. Fort 
Sumter is in danger. Relief of it practically impossible. The 
commissioners from the Southern Confederacy are here. 
These cares fall chiefly on me." 

According to Mr. Welles, Secretary of the Navy, " con- 
fidence and mutual frankness on public affairs and matters 
pertaining to the government, particularly on what related 
to present and threatened disturbances, existed among all 
the members [of the cabinet], with the exception of Mr. 
Seward, who had, or affected, a certain mysterious knowl- 
edge which he was not prepared to impart." Mr. Welles 
asserts that Mr. Seward carried so far his assumption of the 
" cares " of Sumter and other questions as to meddle in the 
duties of his associates in the cabinet. He opposed regular 
cabinet meetings, and at first had his way. After Tuesdays 
and Fridays were set as cabinet days, he contended that it 
was not necessary that a member should come to the meet- 
ings unless especially summoned by Mr. Lincoln or liim- 
self. 

If Mr. Seward had been less self-confident, he would 
have seen before the end of March that Mr. Lincoln had a 
mind of his own, and with it a quiet way of following its 
decisions. Others had seen this. For instance, he had had 
his own way about who should go into the cabinet. " There 
can be no doubt of it any longer," wrote the " Public Ma 
in his " Diary " on March 2, " this man from Illinois i^ no 



28 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

in the hands of Mr. Seward.*' Then there was the inaugu- 
ral address — it was his, not Mr. Seward's; and more than 
one prominent newspaper commented with astonishment 
on that fact. 

Nobody knew these facts better than the Secretary of 
State. He had discovered also that Mr. Lincoln attended 
to his business. " This President proposes to do all his 
work," he wrote to Mrs. Seward on IMarch i6. He had 
received, too, at least one severe lesson, which ought to have 
shown him that it was Mr. Lincoln, not he, who was cast- 
ing the decisive vote in the cabinet. This was in reference 
to Sumter. During the period when the President was wait- 
ing to hear from Fort Pickens, commissioners from the 
Southern Confederacy had been in Washington. Mr. Sew- 
ard had not received them, but through a trusted agent he 
had assured them that Sumter would be evacuated. There 
is no proof, so far as I know, that Mr. Lincoln knew of this 
quasi-promise of his Secretary of State. As we have seen, 
he did not decide to order an expedition prepared to relieve 
the fort until March 29. From what we know of the 
character of the man, it is inconceivable that he should have 
authorized Mr. Seward to promise to do a thing which he 
had not yet decided to do. The Secretary assumed that, be- 
cause he believed in evacuation, it would follow, and he as- 
sured the Southern commissioners to that effect. Suddenly 
he realized that the President was not going to evacuate 
Sumter, that his representations to the Southerners were 
worthless, that he had been following a course which was 
bound to bring on the administration the charge of decep- 
_tion and fraud J Yet all these things taught him nothing of 
the man he had to deal with, and on April i he sent Mr. 
Lincoln a letter in which he laid down an astounding policy 
— to make war on half Europe — and offered to t^^e the 
reins of administration into his own hands. 



THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 29 



i^ 



SOME THOUGHTS FOR THE PRESIDENT S CONSIDERATION, 

APRIL I, 1861. 

First. We are at the end of a month's administration, an-;l 
yet without a policy, either domestic or foreign. 

Second. This, however, is not culpable, and it has even 
been unavoidable. The presence of the Senate, with the 
need to meet applications for patronage, have prevented at- 
tention to other and more grave matters. 

Third. But further delay to adopt and prosecute our poli- 
cies for both domestic and foreign affairs would not only 
bring scandal on the administration, but danger upon the 
country. 

Fourth. To do this we must dismiss the applicants for 
office. But how ? I suggest that we make the local appoint- 
ments forthwith, leaving foreign or general ones for ulterior 
and occasional action. 

Fifth. The policy at home. I am aware that my views 
are singular, and perhaps not sufficiently explained. My 
system is built upon this idea as a ruling one, namely, that 
we must 

CHANGE THE QUESTION BEFORE THE PUBLIC FROM ONE 

UPON SLAVERY^ OR ABOUT SLAVERY^ for a qucstion upon 

UNION OR DISUNION : 

In other words, from what would be regarded as a party 
question, to one of patriotism or union. 

The occupation or evacuati(^n of Fort Sumter, although 
not in fact a slavery or a party question, is so regarded. Wit- 
ness the temper manifested by tlie Republicans in the free 
States, and even by the Union men in the South. 

I would therefore terminate it as a safe means for chang- 
ing the issue. I deem it fortunate that the last administra- 
tion created the necessity. 

For the rest, I would simultaneously defend and re-enforce 
all the i)orts in the Clnlf, and have the navy recalled from for- 
eign stations to be prei)ared for a blockade. Put the island 
of Key West under martial law. 

This will raise distinctly the (|nestion of union or disunion. 
I would maintain every fort and possession in the South, 



30 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

FOR FOREIGN NATIONS. 

I would demand explanations from Spain and France, 
categorically, at once. 

I would seek explanations from Great Britain and Russia, 
and send agents into Canada, Mexico, and Central America 
to rouse a vigorous continental spirit of independence on this 
continent against European intervention. 

And, if satisfactory explanations are not received from 
Spain and France, 

Would convene Congress and declare war against them. 

But whatever policy we adopt, there must be an energetic 
prosecution of it. 

For this purpose it must be somebody's business to pursue 
and direct it incessantly. 

Either the President must do it himself, and be all the 
while active in it, or 

Devolve it on some member of his cabinet. Once adopted, 
debates on it must end, and all agree and abide. 

It is not in my especial province ; 

But I neither seek to evade nor assume responsibilityc 

Mr. Lincoln replied: 

Executive Mansion, April i, 1861. 

Hon. W. H. Seward. 

My dear Sir: Since parting with you, I have been consid- 
ering your paper dated this day, and entitled '* Some 
Thouchts for the President's Consideration." The first 
proposition in it is, "'first, We are at the end of a month's 
administration, and yet without a policy, either domestic or 
foreign." 

At the beginning of that month, in the inaugural, I said: 
" The power confided to me will l)e used to hold, occupy, and 
possess the property and places Ijelonging to tlie government, 
and to collect the duties and imposts." This had your distinct 
approval at the time ; and taken in connection with the order 
I immediately gave General Scott, directing him to employ 



THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 3I 

every means in his power to strengthen and hold the forts, 
comprises the exact domestic poHcy you now urge, with the 
single exception that it does not propose to abandon Fort 
Sumter. 

Again, I do not perceive how the re-enforcement of Fort 
Sumter would be done on a slavery or a party issue, while 
that of Fort Pickens would be on a more national and pa- 
triotic one. 

The news received yesterday in regard to St. Domingo 
certainly brings a new item within the range of our foreign 
policy; but uj) to that time we have been preparing circulars 
and instructions to ministers and the like, all in ])erfect bar- 
mony, without e\'en a suggestion that we had no foreign 
policy. 

Upon your closing proposition — that " whate\-er ])olicy 
we adopt, there must be an energetic prosecution of it. 

*' For this purpose it must be somebody's business to pur- 
sue and direct it incessantly. 

" Either the President must do it himself, and be all the 
while active in it, or 

*' Devolve it on some member of his cabinet. Once adopted, 
debates on it must end, and all agree and abide "' — I remark 
that if this must be done, T must do it. When a general line 
of policy is adopted, I apprehend there is no danger of its 
being changed without good reason, or continuing to be a 
subject of unnecessary debate ; still, upon points arising in its 
progress I wish, and suppose I am entitled to have, the ad- 
vice of all the cabinet. 

Your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln.* 

The magnanimity of this letter was only excelled 1)y the 
President's treatment of the matter. He never revealed Mr. 
Seward's amazing proposition to any one but Mr. Nicolay, 
his private secretary, and it never reached the ]niblic until 
Nicolay and Hay published it. Mr. Lincoln's action in this 
matter, and his handling of the events which followed, 

* Abraham T.incjln, a History, Vol. III. By Nicolay ami Hay. 



32 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

gradually dispelled ]\Ir. Seward's illusion. By June, the Sec- 
retary had begun to understand Mr. Lincoln. He was quick 
and generous to acknowledge his power. " Executive force 
and vigor are rare qualities," he wrote to Mrs. Seward on 
June 5. " The President is the best of us." 



CHAPTER XXIII 

THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 

/ 

It was on April 9, 1861, that the expedition ordered by 
President Lincohi for the rehef of Fort Sumter sailed from 
New York. The day before, the Governor of South Carolina 
had received from the President the notification sent on the 
6th that he might expect an attempt to be made to provision 
the fort. Ever smce Mr. Lincoln's inauguration the Con- 
federate government had been watching intently the new 
Administration's course. Sumter, it was resolved, should 
never be captured, re-enforced, even provisioned. When it 
was certain that an expedition had started for its relief an 
order to attack the fort was given, and it was bombarded 
until it fell. 

The bombardment of Sumter began at half past four 
o'clock in the morning of April 12. All that day rumors 
and private telegrams came to the White House reporting 
the progress of the attack and Anderson's heroic defense, but 
there was nothing official. By evening, however, there was 
no doubt that Fort Sumter was being reduced. Mr. Lincoln 
was already formulating his plan of action, his one (juestion 
to the excited visitors who called upon him being, " Will 
your State support me with military power? " The w^ay in 
which the matter presented itself to his mind lie stated clearly 
to Congress, when that body next came together: 

. . . The assault upon and reduction of Fort Sumter 
was in no sense a matter of self-defense on the part of the 

(3) 33 



34 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

assailants. They well knew that the garrison in the fort 
could by no possibility commit aggression upon them. They 
knew — they were expressly notified — that the giving of 
bread to the few brave and hungry men of the garrison was 
all which would on that occasion be attempted, unless them- 
selves, by resisting so much, should provoke more. They 
knew that this government desired to keep the garrison in 
the fort, not to assail them, but merely to maintain visible pos- 
session, and thus to preserve the Union from actual and im- 
mediate dissolution — trusting, as hereinbefore stated, to time, 
discussion, and the ballot-box for final adjustment; and they 
assailed and reduced the fort for precisely the reverse ob- 
ject — to drive out the visible authority of the Federal Union, 
and thus force it to immediate dissolution. . . . 

And this issue embraces more than the fate of these United 
States. It presents to the whole family of man the question 
whether a constitutional republic or democracy — a govern- 
ment of the people by the same people — can or can not main- 
tain its territorial integrity against its own domestic 
foes. 

So viewing the issue, no choice was left but to call out the 
war power of the government; and so to resist force em- 
ployed for its destruction, by force for its preservation. 

This was not Mr. Lincoln's view alone. It was the view of 
the North. And when, on April 15, he Issued a proclama- 
tion calling for 75,000 militia and appealing to all loyal citi- 
zens " to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the 
honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National 
Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, and to re- 
dress wrongs already long enough endured," there was an 
immediate and overwhelming response. The telegraph of 
the very day of the proclamation announced that in almost 
every city and town of the North volunteer regiments were 
forming and that LTnion mass meetings were in session in 
halls and churches and pul)lic squares. " W^iat portion of 
the 75,000 militia you call for do you give to Ohio? We will 



THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 35 

furnish the largest number you will receive," telegraphed the 
Governor of that State in response to the President's mes- 
sage. Indiana, whose quota VN-as less than 5,000 men, tele- 
graphed back that 10,000 were ready. " We will furnish 
you the regiments in thirty days if you want them, and 50,- 
000 men if you need them," telegraphed Zachariah Chandler 
from Michigan. So rapidly did men come in under this 
call for 75,000, that in spite of the efforts of the War De- 
partment to keep the number down, it swelled to 91,816. 

It was not troops alone that were offered. Banks and 
private individuals offered money and credit. Supplies of 
every sort were put at the government's order. Corpora- 
tions sent their presidents to Washington, offering rail- 
roads and factories. Stephen Douglas sought Lincoln 
and offered all his splendid power to the Administration. 
Edward Everett, who had strongly sympathized wnth the 
South, declared for the movement. Individuals suspected of 
Southern sympathy were promptly hooted off the streets and 
newspapers which had been advocating disunion were forced 
to hang out the Stars and Stripes, or suffer a mob to raze 
their establishments. The fall of Sum*^er seemed for the 
moment to make a unit of the North. 

Patriotic fervor was intensified by the satisfaction that at 
last the long tension was over. Nor was this strange. For 
months the war fever had been burning in the veins of both 
North and South. At times compromise had seemed cer- 
tain, then suddenly no one knew why it seemed as if another 
twenty-four hours would plunge the country into war. Many 
a public man on both sides had grown thin and haggard in 
wrestling with the terrible problem that winter and spring. 
Congressmen in Washington had walked the streets argu- 
ing, groaning, seeking an escape. Many a sleepless man had 
tossed nightly on his bed until daybreak, then rose to smoke 
and walk, always pursued by the same problems and never 



36 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

seeing any final solution but war. The struggle had 
penetrated the social circles, particularly in border cities like 
Washington, and rarely did people assemble that hot discus- 
sions did not rise. The very children in the schools took up 
the debates, and for many weeks in Washington the school 
grounds were the scenes of small daily quarrels, ending often 
in blows and tears. The fall of Sumter ended this exhaust- 
ing uncertainty. Henceforth there was nothing to do but 
range yourself on one side or the other and fight it out. 

But if Sumter unified the sentiment of the North, it did 
no less for the South. Henceforth there was but one voice 
in the Southern States, and that for the Confederacy. North 
Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkan- 
sas, all refused the President's call for troops. In Virginia 
a convention was in session, whose members up to that day 
were in the main for the Union. On April 17 that conven- 
tion passed an ordinance of secession. The next day the 
arsenal at Harper's Ferry was seized by the State, and the 
Southern Confederacy at Montgomery was informed that 
Virginia was open to its troops. The line of hostility had 
reached the very boundaries of Washington. The bluffs 
across the Potomac, now beautiful in the first green of 
spring, on which Mr. Lincoln looked every morning from 
his windows in the White House, were no longer in his 
country. They belonged to the enemy. 

With the news of the secession of Virginia, there /eached 
Washington on Thursday, April 18, a rumor that a large 
Confederate force was marching on the city. Now there 
were not over 2,500 armed men in Washington, Regiments 
were known to be on their way from Pennsylvania and 
Massachusetts, but nobody could say when they would ar- 
rive. Washington might be razed to the ground before they 
came. A hurried effort at defense was at once made. 
Women and children were sent out of the city. At the 



THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 37 

White House, Mrs. Lincoln was urged to go with her boys, 
but she refused positively. " I am as safe as Mr. Lincoln, 
and I shall not leave him," was her stout answ^er. 

Guards were stationed at every approach to the city, can- 
non were planted in commanding positions, while " govern- 
ment officials, foreign ministers, governors, senators, office- 
seekers" were pressed into one or the other of two impromptu 
organizations, the Clay Battalion of Cassius M. Clay, and 
the Frontier Guards of Senator Lane of Kansas. For a short 
time the Frontier Guards were quartered in the East Room 
of the White House, and Clay's Battalion at Willard's 
Hotel, which had been stripped of its guests in a night. 

The confusion and alarm of the city was greatly increased 
on Friday by news received from Baltimore. The Sixth 
Massachusetts, en route to the Capital, liad reached there 
that day, and had been attacked as it marched through by a 
mob of Southern sympathizers. Four of its members had 
been killed and many wounded. " No troops should go 
through Maryland," the people of Baltimore declared, 
" whose purpose was to invade Virginia and coerce sister 
States." That evening about five o'clock the regiment 
reached Washington. Dusty, torn, and bleeding, they 
marched two by two through a great crowd of silent people 
to the Capitol. Behind them there came, in single line, seven- 
teen stretchers, bearing the wounded. The dead had been 
left behind. 

Early the next day, Saturday, the 20th, a delegation of 
Baltimore men appeared at the White House. They had 
come to beg Mr. Lincoln to bring no more troops through 
their city. After a long discussion, he sent them away with 
a note to the Maryland authorities, suggesting that the troops 
be marched around Baltimore. But as he gave them the 
letter, Mr. Nicolay heard him say laughingly: " If I grant 
you this concession, that no troops shall pass through the 



38 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

city, you will be back here to-morrow, demanding that none 
shall be marched around it." 

The President was right. That afternoon, and again on 
Sunday and Monday, committees sought him, protesting that 
Maryland soil should not be " polluted " by the feet of sol- 
diers marching against the South. The President had but 
one reply : " We must have troops ; and as they can neither 
crawl under Maryland nor fly over it, they must come across 
it." 

While the controversy with the Baltimoreans was going 
on, the condition of Washington had become hourly more 
alarming. In 1861 there was but one railroad running north 
from Washington. At Annapolis Junction this line con- 
nected with a branch to Chesapeake Bay ; at the Relay House, 
with the Baltimore and Ohio to the west ; at Baltimore, with 
the only two lines then entering that city from the North, 
one from Harrisburg, the other from Philadelphia. On Fri- 
day, April 19, after the attack on the Sixth Massachusetts, 
the Maryland authorities ordered that certain of the bridges 
on the railroads running from Baltimore to Harrisburg and 
Philadelphia be destroyed. This w^as done to prevent any 
more trains bearing troops entering the city. The telegraph 
lines were also partially destroyed at this time. Inspired by 
this example, the excited Marylanders, in the course of the 
next two or three days, tore up much of the track running 
north from Washington, as well as that of the Annapolis 
branch, and still further damaged the telegraph. Exit from 
Washington to the north, east, and west by rail was now 
impossible. On Sunday night matters were made still worse 
by the complete interruption of the telegraph to the north. 
The last wire had been cut. All tlie news which reached 
Washington now came by way of the south, and it was all 
of the most disturbing nature. From twelve to fifteen thou- 
sand Confederates were reported near Alexandria, and an 



THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 35 

army under Jefferson Davis was said to be ready to march 
from Richmond. Tlie alarmed citizens, expecting hourly to 
be attacked, were constantly reporting that they heard can- 
non booming from this or that direction, or had seen scouts 
prowling around the outskirts of the town. 

The activity of the War Department under these condi- 
tions was extraordinary. General Scott had only four or 
five thousand men under arms, but he proposed, if the town 
was attacked, to contest possession point by point, and he 
had every public building, including school-houses, barri- 
caded. At the Capitol, barricades of cement barrels, sand- 
bags, and iron plates such as were being used in the con- 
struction of the dome were erected ten feet high, at every en- 
trance. In all his efforts the General was assisted by the 
loyal citizens. Even the men exempted from service by age 
formed a company called the " Silver Grays," and the sol- 
diers of the War of 1812 offered themselves. 

By Tuesday, April 23, a new terror was added to the 
situation — that of famine. The country around had been 
scoured for provisions, and supplies were getting short. If 
Washington was to be besieged, as it looked, what was to be 
done about food? The government at once ordered that 
the flour at the Georgetown mills, some 25,000 barrels, be 
seized, and sold according to the discretion of the military 
authorities. 

In its distress, it was to Mr. Lincoln that the city turned. 
The fiber of the man began to show at once. Bayard Taylor 
happened to be vn Washington at the very beginning of the 
alarm, and called on the President. " His demeanor was 
thoroughly calm and collected," Taylor wrote to the New 
York '' Tribune," " and he spoke of the present crisis 
v/ith that solemn, earnest composure which is tlie sign of a 
soul not easily perturbed. I came away from his presence 
cheered and encouraged." However, the suspense of the 



40 LIFE OP LINCOLN 

days when the Capital was isolated, the expected troops not 
arriving, an hourly attack feared, wore on Mr. Lincoln 
greatly. " I begin to believe," Mr. Hay lieard him say bit- 
terly, one day, to some Massachusetts soldiers, " that there is 
no North. The Seventh Regiment is a myth. Rhode Island 
is another. You are the only real thing." And again, after 
pacing the floor of his deserted office for a half hour, he was 
heard to exclaim to himself, in an anguished tone, " Why 
don't they come ! Why don't they come ! " 

The delay of the troops to arrive was, perhaps, the most 
mysterious and terrifying element in the situation for Mr. 
Lincoln. He knew that several regiments had started, and 
that the Seventh New York was at Annapolis, having come 
down Chesapeake Bay. Why they did not make a way 
through he could not understand. The most disquieting 
rumors reached him — now that an army had been raised in 
Maryland to oppose their advance; now that they had at- 
tempted to come up the Potomac, and were aground on Vir- 
ginia soil. At last, however, the long suspense was broken. 
About noon, on Thursday, the 25th. the whole city was 
thrown into excitement by the shrill whistle of a locomotive. 
A great crowd gathered at the station, where the Seventh 
New York was debarking. The regiment had worked its 
way from Annapolis to the city, building bridges and laying 
track as it went. Worn and dirty as the men were, they 
marched gaily up Pennsylvania avenue, through the crowds 
of cheering, weeping people, to the White House, where 
Mr. Lincoln received them. The next day, 1,200 Rhode 
Island troops and the Butler Brigade of 1,400 arrived. Be- 
fore the end of the week, there were said to be 17,000 troops 
in the city, and it was believed that the number could easily 
be increased to 40,000. Mr. Lincoln had won his first point. 
He had soldiers to defend his Capital. 

But it was evident by this time that something more was 




LINCOLN EARLY IN I861 



t>om photograph In the collection of H. \V. Fay of De Kalb, Illinois, taken prob 
V in Sprhigfleld early in 1861. It is supj osed to have been the first, or at least 



ablv in Sprnigr.^.,. ^ — .^ - , ^ j , 

one of the first, portraits made of Mr. Lincoln after he began to wear a beard. As 
is well known, his face was smooth until about the end of ISW); when he first al- 
lowed his beard to grow, it became a topic of newspaper comment, and even of 
caricature. 



THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 41 

necessary than to defend Washington. When, on April 15, 
Mr. Lincoln called for 75,000 men for three months, he had 
commanded the persons disturbing the public peace " to dis- 
perse and retire peacefully to their respective abodes within 
twenty days from date." 

In reply the South had marched on his Capital, cutting it 
off from all communication with the North for nearly a week, 
and had so threatened Harper's Ferry and Norfolk that to 
prevent the arsenal and shipyards from falling into the hands 
of the enemy, the Federal commanders had destroyed both 
these fine government properties. 

Before ten of the twenty days had passed, it was plain that 
the order was worthless. 

" I have desired as sincerely as any man, and I sometimes 
think more than any other man," said the President on April 
27 to a visiting military company, " that our present diffi- 
culties might be settled without the shedding of blood. I 
li'ill not say that all hope has yet gone; but if the alternative 
is presented whether the Union is to be broken in fragments 
and the liberties of the people lost, or blood be shed, you will 
probably make the choice with which I shall not be dissatis- 
fied." 

If not as yet quite convinced that war was coming. Mr. 
Lincoln saw that it was so probable that he must have an 
army of something beside " three months' men," for the very 
next day after this speech, the Secretary of War. Mr. Cam- 
eron, wrote to a correspondent that the President had de- 
cided to add twenty-five regiments to the regular army. 

There was great need that the regular army be re-enforced. 
At the beginning of the year it had numbered 16,367 men, 
but a large part of this force was in the West, and the effi- 
ciency of the whole was greatly weakened by the desertion 
of officers to the South, 313 of the commissioned officers, 
nearly one-third of the whole number, having resigned. To 



42 ' LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Mr. Lincoln^s great satisfaction, this disaffection did not ex- 
tend to the " common soldiers and common sailors." " To 
the last man, so far as is known," he said proudly, " they 
have successfully resisted the traitorous efforts of those 
whose commands, but an hour before, they obeyed as ab- 
solute law." It was on May 3 that the President issued 
a proclamation increasing the regulars by 22,714, and call- 
ing for three years' volunteers to the number of 42,034. But 
the country was not satisfied to send so few. When the War 
Department refused troops from States beyond the quota 
assigned. Governors literally begged that they be allowed to 
send more. 

" You have no conception of the depth of feeling universal 
in the Northern mind for the prosecution of this war until 
the flag floats from every spot on which it had a right to float 
a year ago," wrote Galusha A. Grow, on May 5. . . . 
In my judgment, the enthusiasm of the hour ought not 
to be represented by flat refusals on the part of the govern- 
ment, but let them (troops offered above the quota) be held 
in readiness (in some way) in the States." 

A meeting of the Governors of the Western and Border 
States was held in Cleveland, Ohio, about the time of the 
second call, and Mr. Randall, the Governor of Wisconsin, 
wrote to Lincoln on May 6 : 

" I must be permitted to say it, because it is a fact, there 
is a spirit evoked by this rebellion among the liberty-loving 
people of the country that is driving them to action, and if 
the government will not permit them to act for it, they will 
act for themselves. It is better for the government to direct 
this spirit than to let it run wild. ... if it was abso- 
lutely certain that the 75.000 troops first called would wipe 
out this rebellion in three weeks from to-day, it would still 
be the policy of your Administration, and for the best in- 
terest of the government, in view of what ought to be the 



THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 43 

great future of this nation, to call into the field at once 
300,000 men." 

At the same time from Maine W. P. Fessenclen wrote: 
'' Rely upon it, you cannot at Washington fairly estimate 
the resolute determination existing among all classes of peo- 
ple in the free States to put down at once and forever this 
monstrous rebellion." 

Under this pressure, regiment after regiment was added 
to the three years' volunteers. It was Mr. Lincoln's personal 
interference which brought in many of these regiments. 
'' Why cannot Colonel Small's Philadelpliia regiment be re- 
ceived?" he wrote to the Secretary of War on May ji, 
" I sincerely wish it could. There is something strange about 
it. Give those gentlemen an interview, and take their regi- 
ment." Again on June 13 he wrote: "There is, it seems, 
a regiment in Massachusetts commanded by Fletcher Web- 
ster, and which the Hon. Daniel Webster's old friends very 
much wish to get into the service. If it can be received with 
the approval of your department and the consent of the 
Governor of Massachusetts, I shall indeed be much gratified. 
Give Mr. Ashmun a chance to explain fully." And again on 
June 17: "With your concurrence, and that of the (gov- 
ernor of Indiana, I am in favor of accepting into what we 
call the three years' service any number not exceeding four 
additional regiments from that State. Probably they should 
come from the triangular region between the Ohio and Wa- 
bash rivers, including my own old boyhood home."* 

So rapid was the increase of the army under this policy, 
that on July i, the Secretary of War reported 310,000 men 
at his command, and added : " At the present moment the 
government presents the striking anomaly of being em- 

* These extracts are from letters to Mr. Cameron found in a volume 
of the War Records as yet unpublished. Others of the same tenor are 
in the volume. 



44 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

barrassed by the generous outpouring of volunteers to sup* 
port its action." 

But Mr, Lincoln soon found that enrolling men does not 
make an army. He must uniform, arm, shelter, feed, nurse, 
and transport them as needed. It was in providing for the 
needs of the men that came so willingly into service that the 
Administration found its chief embarrassment. The most 
serious difficulty was in getting arms. Men could go ununi- 
formed, and sleep in the open air, but to fight they must have 
guns. The supplies of the United States arsenals in the 
North had been greatly depleted in the winter of i860 and 
1861 by transfers to the South, between one-fifth and one- 
sixth of all the muskets in the country and between one- 
fourth and one-fifth of all the rifles having been sent to the 
six seceding States. The Confederates had not only ob- 
tained a large share of government arms, but through 
January, February, March, April, and May they bought 
from private factories in the North, " under the very noses of 
the United States officers." This became such a scandal that 
the Administration had to send out an agent to investigate 
the trade. At the same time the Federal ministers abroad 
were warning Mr. Lincoln that the South was picking up 
all the arms Europe had to spare, and the North was buying 
nothing. The need of arms opened the way for inventors, 
and Washington was overrun with men having guns to be 
tested. Mr. Lincoln took the liveliest interest in these new 
arms, and it sometimes happened that, when an inventor 
could get nobody else in the government to listen to him, the 
President would personally test his gun. A former clerk in 
the Navy Department tells an incident illustrative. He had 
stayed late one night at his desk, when he heard some one 
striding up and down the hall muttering : " I do wonder if 
they have gone already and left the building all alone." 
Looking out, the clerk was surprised to see the President 



THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 45 

" Good evening," said Mr. Lincoln. " I was just looking 
for that man who goes shooting with me sometimes." 

The clerk knew that Mr. Lincoln referred to a certain mes- 
senger of the Ordnance Department who had been accus- 
tomed to going with him to test weapons, but as this man 
had gone home, the clerk offered his services. Together they 
went to the lawn south of the White House, where Mr. Lin- 
coln fixed up a target cut from a sheet of white Congressional 
note-paper. " Then pacing off a distance of about eighty 
or a hundred feet," writes the clerk, " he raised the rifle to a 
level, took a quick aim, and drove the round of seven shots 
in quick succession, the bullets shooting all around the target 
like a Catling gun and one striking near the centre. 

" ' I believe I can make this gun shoot better,' said Mr. 
Lincoln, after we had looked at the result of the first fire. 
With this he took from his vest pocket a small wooden sight 
which he had whittled from a pine stick, and adjusted it 
over the sight of the carbine. He then shot two rounds, and 
of the fourteen bullets nearly a dozen hit the paper ! " 

It was in these early days of preparing for war that Mr. 
Lincoln interested himself, too, in experiments with the bal- 
loon. He was one of the first persons in this country to 
receive a telegraphic message from a balloon sent up to make 
observations on an enemy's works. This experiment was 
made in June, and so pleased the President that the balloonist 
was allowed to continue his observations from the Virginia 
side. These observations were successful, and on June 21, 
Joseph Henry, the distinguished secretary of the Smith- 
sonian Institution, declared in a report to the Administration 
that, " from experiments made here for the first time, it is 
conclusively proved that telegrams can be sent with ease and 
certainty between the balloon and the quarters of the com- 
manding officer." 

The extraordinary conditions under which Mr. Lincoln 



4t LIFE OF LINCOLN 

entered tne White House prevented him for some weeks 
from adopting anything hke systematic habits. By the time 
of his second call for troops, however, he had adjusted him- 
self to his new home as well as he ever was able to do. The 
arrangement of the White House was not materially different 
then from what it is now. The entrance, halls, the East 
Room, the Green Room, the Blue Room, the State Dining- 
room, all were the same, the only difference being in furnish- 
ings and decorations. The Lincoln family used the west end 
of the second floor as a private apartment; the east end being 
devoted to business. Mr. Lincoln's office was the large room 
on the south side of the house, between the office of Private 
Secretary Nicolay, at the southeast corner, and the room now 
used as a Cabinet-room. 

" The furniture of this room," says Mr. Isaac Arnold, a 
friend and frequent visitor of the President, " consisted of 
a large oak table covered with cloth, extending north and 
south, and it was around this table that the Cabinet sat when 
it held its meetings. Near the end of the table and between 
the windows was another table, on the west side of which 
the President sat, in a large arm-chair, and at this table he 
wrote. A tall desk, with pigeon-holes for papers, stood 
against the south wall. The only books usually found in 
this room were the Bible, the United States Statutes and a 
copy of Shakespeare. There were a few chairs and two 
plain hair-covered sofas. There were two cr three map 
frames, from which hung military maps, on which the posi- 
tions and movements of the armies were traced. There was 
an old and discolored engraving of General Jackson on the 
mantel and a later photograph of John Bright. Doors opened 
into this room from the room of the Secretary and from the 
outside hall, running east and west across the house. A bell 
cord within reach of his hand extended to the Secretary'^' 
office. A messenger sat at the door opening from the hall, 
and took in the cards and names of visitors." 

One serious annoyance in the arrangement of the business 



THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 47 

part of the White House at that date arose from the fact 
that to reach his office Mr. Lincohi was obliged, in coming 
from his private apartment, to pass through the hall. As 
this hall was always filled with persons anxious to see him, 
it was especially difficult for a man of his informal habits 
and genial nature to get through. Late in 1864 this difficulty 
was remedied. At the suggestion of one of his body-guard, 
a door was cut from the family library into the present 
cabinet-room and a light partition was run across the 
south end, thus enabling him to pass into his office without 
interruption. 

Most of his time, while President, Mr. Lincoln undoubt- 
edly spent in his office. He was a very early riser, being 
often at his desk at six o'clock in the morning, and some- 
times even going out on errands at this early hour, A friend 
tells of passing the White House early one morning in the 
spring of 1861 and seeing Mr. Lincoln standing at the gate, 
looking anxiously up and down the street. " Good morning, 
good morning," he said. " I am looking for a newsboy. 
When you get to the corner, I wish you would send one up 
this way." 

After the firing on Fort Sumter and the alarm for the 
safety of Washington, the office-seekers fell off sufficiently 
for the President to announce that he would see no visitors 
before nine o'clock in the morning or after two in the after- 
noon. He never kept tlie rule himself, but those about him 
did their best to keep it for him. He was most informal in 
receiving visitors. Sometimes he even went out into the hall 
himself to reply to cards. Ben : Perley Poore says he did 
this frequently for newspaper men. Indeed, it was so much 
more natural for Mr. Lincoln to do things for himself than 
to call on others, to go to others than have them come to him, 
that he was constantly appearing in unexpected places. The 
place to which he went oftenest was the War Department. 



48 LIFE UF LINCOLN 

In 1861, separate buildings occupied the space now covered 
by the State, Army, and Navy Building. The War Depart- 
ment stood on the site of the northeast corner of the present 
structure, facing on Pennsylvania avenue. The Navy Build- 
ing was south and in line, and no street separated the White 
House from these buildings, as now, but the lawn was con- 
tinuous, and a gravel walk ran from one to another. Mr. 
Lincoln had no telegraph apparatus in the White House, so 
that all war news was brought to him from the War Depart- 
ment, unless he went after it. He much preferred to go 
after it, and he began soon after the fall of Fort Sumter to 
run over to the Department whenever anything important 
occurred. Mr. William B. Wilson, of Philadelphia, was in 
the military telegraph office of the War Department from the 
first of May, 1861, and in some unpublished recollections 
of Mr. Lincoln he recalls an incident illustrating admirably 
the President's informal relation to the telegraph office, Mr. 
Wilson had been sent to the White House hurriedly to re- 
peat an important message from an excited Governor. 

" Mr. Lincoln considered it of sufficient importance," 
writes Mr. Wilson, " to return with me to the War Depart- 
ment for the purpose of having a ' wire-talk ' with the per- 
turbed Governor, Calling one of his two younger boys to 
join him, we then started from the White House, between 
stately trees, along a gravel path which led to the rear of the 
old War Department building. It was a warm day, and Mr. 
Lincoln wore as part of his costume a faded gray linen duster 
which hung loosely around his long gaunt frame; his kindly 
eye was beaming with good nature, and his ever-thoughtful 
brow was unruffled. We had barely reached the gravel walk 
before he stooped over, picked up a round smooth pebble, 
and shooting it off his thumb, challenged us to a game of 
' followings,' which we accepted. Each in turn tried to hit 
rhe outlying stone, which was being constantly projected on- 
vard by the President. The game was short, but exciting; 
the cheerfulness of childhood, the ambition of young man- 



THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 49 

hood, and the gravity of the statesman were all injected into 
it. The game was not won until the steps of the War De- 
partment were reached. Every inch of progression was 
toughly contested, and when the President was declared 
victor, it was only by a hand span. He appeared to be as 
much pleased as if he had won a battle, and softened the 
defeat of the vanquished by attributing his success to his 
greater height of person and longer reach of arm." 

One noticeable feature of Mr. Lincoln's life, at this tifue, 
was his relation to the common soldier. Officers he re- 
spected, even deferred to, but from the first arrival of troops 
in Washington it was the man on foot, with a gun on his 
shoulder, that had Mr. Lincoln's heart. Even at this early 
period the men found it out, and went to him confidently for 
favors refused elsewhere. Thus the franking of letters by 
Congressmen was one of the perquisites of the boys, and 
there are cases of their going to the President with letters 
to be franked when they failed to find, or were refused by, 
their Congressman. But they also soon learned that trivial 
pleas or complaints were met by rel)ukes as caustic as the 
help they received was genuine when they hail a just cause. 
General Sherman relates the following incident that befell 
one day when he was riding through camp with Mr. Lin- 
coln : 

" I saw," says the general, " an officer with whom I had 
had a little difficulty that morning. His face was pale and 
his lips compressed. I foresaw a scene, but sat on the front 
seat of the carriage as quiet as a lamb. The officer forced 
his way through the crowd to the carriage, and said : * Mr. 
President, I have a cause of grievance. This morning I went 
to speak to Colonel Sherman, and he threatened to shoot me.' 
Mr. Lincoln said: ' Threatened to shoot you? ' ' Yes. sir, 
threatened to shoot me.' Mr. Lincoln looked at him, then at 
me, and stooping his tall form towards the officer, said to 
him, in a loud stage whisper, easily heard for some yards 

(4) 



50 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

around, ' Well, if I were you, and he threatened to shoot met 
I woidd not trust him, for I believe he would do it.' " 

It is curious to note in the records of the time how soon, 
not only the soldiers, but the general public of Washington 
discovered the big heart of the new President. A cor- 
respondent of the Philadelphia " Press," in a letter of May 
2^^, tells how he saw Mr, Lincoln one day sitting in his 
" new barouche " in front of the Treasury, awaiting Mr. 
Chase, when there came along a boy on crutches. Lincoln 
immediately called the boy to him, asked him several ques- 
tions, and then slipped a gold piece into his hands. " Such 
acts of liberality and disinterested charity," said the cor- 
respondent, " are frequently practiced by our Executive, 
who can never look upon distress without attempting to re- 
lieve it." 

As soon as the first rush of soldiers to Washington was 
over and the Capital was comparatively safe, Mr. Lincoln 
began to take a drive every afternoon. It was among the 
soldiers that he went almost invariably. Indeed, it was im- 
possible to escape the camps, so fully was the city turned 
over to the military. The Capitol, Inauguration Ball-room, 
Patent Office, and other pul)Hc Iniildings were used as tem- 
porary quarters for incoming troops. The Corcoran Art 
Gallery had been turned into a store-house for army supplies. 
A bakery was established in the basement of the Capitol. 
The Twelfth New York was in Franklin Park. At the 
Georgetown College was another regiment. On Meridian 
Hill the Seventh New York was stationed. Everywhere 
were soldiers. Mr. Lincoln and his Cabinet officers drove 
daily to one or another of these camps. Very often his out- 
ing for the day was attending some ceremony incident to 
camp life: a military funeral, a camp wedding, a review, a 
flag-raising. He did not often make speeches. " I have 
made a great many poor speeches," he said one day, in ex- 



THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 51 

cusing himself, " and I now feel relieved that my dignity 
does not permit me to be a public speaker." 

All through these early days of calling the army to Wash- 
ington there was little to make one feel how terrible a thing 
it is to collect and prepare men for battle. So far it was the 
splendid outburst of patriotism, the dash of adventure, the 
holiday gaiety of it all, which had impressed the countrv. 
There were critics now who said, as they had said before the 
inauguration and again before the firing on Fort Sumter, 
that the 1 'resident did not understand what was going on 
before his eyes. Cicneral Sherman himself confesses his 
irritation at what seemed to him an unbecoming placidity on 
the part of Mr. Lincoln. The (ieneral had just come from 
Louisiana. " How are they getting on down there? " asked 
the President. 

" They are getting on swimmingly," Sherman replied. 
** They are preparing for war." 

" Oh, well," Lincoln said, " I guess we'll manage to keep 
house." 

More penetrating observers saw something else in the 
President, an inner man, wrestling incessantly with an awful 
problem. N. P. Willis, who saw him at one of the many 
flag-raisings of that spring, records an impression common 
enough among thoughtful observers : 

*' There was a momentary interval," writes Willis, " while 
the band played the ' Star-Spangled Banner,' and during this 
' brief waiting for the word,' all eyes, of course, were on the 
President's face, in which (at least for those near enough 
to see it well) there was the same curious problem of expres- 
sion which has been more than once noticed by the close 
observer of that singular countenance — the two-fold working 
of the twofold nature of the man". Lincoln the Westerner, 
slightly humorous but thoroughly practical and sagacious, 
was measuring the ' chore ' that was to be done, and wonder- 
ing whether that string was going to draw that heap of stuliE 



52 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

through the hole in the top of the partition, determining that 
it should, but seeing clearly that it was mechanically 
a badly arranged job, and expecting the difficulty that did 
actually occur. Lincoln the President and statesman was 
another nature, seen in those abstract and serious eyes, which 
seemed withdrawn to an inner sanctuary of thought, sitting 
in judgment on the scene and feeling its far reach into the 
future. A whole man, and an exceedingly handy and joyous 
one, was to hoist the flag, but an anxious and reverent and 
deep-thinking statesman and patriot was to stand apart while 
it went up and pray God for its long waving and sacred wel- 
fare. Completely, and yet separately, the one strange face 
told both stories, and told them well." 

By the middle of May, 1861, the problem of Mr. Lincoln's 
life was how to use the army he had called together. The 
capital was now^ well guarded. Troops were at Norfolk, 
Baltimore, and Harper's Ferry, the points at which the Con- 
federates had made their earliest demonstrations. The un- 
certainty as to whether Kentucky would leave the Union had 
imperiled the line of the Ohio and compelled military demon- 
strations at Cincinnati and Cairo, and in Missouri the strug- 
gle between the Northern and Southern sympathizers had 
become so violent that a Military Department had been cre- 
ated there. Thus the President had a zig-zag line of troops 
running from Missouri eastward to Norfolk. The bulk of all 
the troops however, were in and around W'ashington. The 
North had been urging the President, from the day it an- 
swered his first call, to advance the volunteers into Virginia. 
" Don't establish batteries on Georgetown Heights," wrote 
Zachariah Chandler from Michigan on April 17. "' March 
your troops into Virginia. Quarter them there." Finally, 
about the middle of May, the President decided that a move- 
ment across the river should be made, the object being to 
seize the heights from Arlington south to Alexandria. Mr, 
Lincoln had the success of this movement deeply at heart. 



THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 53 

The Confederate flag flying from a staff at Alexandria had 
been a constant eyesore to him. Again and again he was seen 
standing with a gloomy face before one of the south win- 
dows of the White House looking through a glass at this 
flag. 

The time for the advance was set for the night of May 
23. By morning, Arlington, the shores of the Potomac 
southward, and the town of Alexandria were occupied Iw 
Federal troops. The enemy had fled at their approach. Tlie 
flag which had caused Mr. Lincoln so much pain was gone, 
but its removal had cost a life very precious to the President. 
Young Colonel Ellsworth, one of the most brilliant officers 
in the volunteer service, a man whom the President haa 
brought to Washington and for whom he felt the warmest 
affection, had been shot. 

The Arlington heights seized, the army lay for weeks in- 
active. The one movement for which the North now clam- 
ored was a march from Arlington to Richmond. The delay 
to move made the country irritable and sarcastic. Perhaps 
thecompletest expression of the discontent of the North with 
the military policy of the Administration is found in the New 
York " Tribune." For days, beginning early in June, that 
paper kept standing at the head of its editorial columns what 
it called " The Nation's War Cry." " Forward to Rich- 
mond. Forward to Richmond. The Rebel Congress nuist 
not be allowed to meet there on the 20th of July. By that 
date the place must be held by the National Army." 

Mr. Lincoln was as anxious for a successful movement 
southward as any man in the country ; but for some time he 
resisted the popular outcry, giving his generals the oppor- 
tunity to make ready f(M- which they begged. .\t last, to- 
wards the end of June, he decided that an advance must be 
made, and he summoned his Cabinet and the leading mili- 
tary men near Washington to meet him on the evening of 



54 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

June 29 and discuss the advisability of and the plans for 
an immediate attack on the enemy's army, then entrenched 
at Manassas Junction, some twenty miles southwest of 
Washington. The Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Gen- 
eral Scott, opposed the advance. He had another plan of 
campaign; the army was not ready. But Mr. Lincoln in- 
sisted that the country demanded a movement, and that if 
the Federal army was " green," so was that of the Con- 
federates. General Scott waived his objections, and the ad- 
vance was ordered for July 9. 

Before the battle came off, however, the President wished 
to impress again on the North what it was fighting for. On 
July 4, when he sent his message to Congress, which he had 
summoned in extra session, he put before them clearly his 
theory of and justification for the war. 

" This is essentially a people's contest. On the side of the 
Union it is a struggle for maintaining in the world that 
form and substance of government whose leading object is to 
elevate the condition of men — to lift artificial weights from 
all shoulders ; to clear the paths of laudable pursuits for all ; 
to afford all an unfettered start, and a fair chance in the race 
of life. Yielding to partial and temporary departures, from 
necessity, this is the leading object of the government for 
whose existence we contend. 

" Our popular government has often been called an ex- 
periment. Two points in it our people have already settled — 
the successful establishing and the successful administering 
of it. One still remains — its successful maintenance against 
a formidable internal attempt to overthrow it. It is now for 
them to demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly 
carry an election can also sui)press a rebellion; that ballots 
are the rightful and peaceful successors of bullets; and that 
when l)all()ts have fairly and constitutionally decitled, there 
can be no successful appeal back to bullets; that there can be 
no successful appeal except to ballots themselves at succeed- 
ing elections. Such will be a sfreat lesson of peace; teaching 



THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 55 

men that what they cannot take by election, neither can 
they lake it by a war; teaching all the folly of being the be- 
ginners of a war. 

'" As a private citizen the executive could not have con- 
sented that the institutions of this country shall perish ; much 
less could he, in betrayal of so vast and so sacred a trust as 
the free people have confided to him. He felt that he had no 
moral right to shrink, nor even to count the chances of his 
own life in what might follow. In full view of his great 
responsibility he has, so far, done what he has deemed his 
duty. You will now^, according to your own judgment, per- 
form yours. He sincerely hopes that your views and your 
actions may so accord with his, as to assure all faithful citi- 
zens who have been disturbed in their rights of a certain and 
speedy restoration to them, under the Constitution and the 
laws. 

" And having thus chosen our course, without guile and 
with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go for- 
ward without fear and with manly hearts." 

With these words Mr, Lincoln started the first War Con- 
gress on its duties and the Army of Northeastern Virginia 
towards Bull Run. 

The advance of the Federals from Arlington towards Ma- 
nassas Junction had been ordered for July 9. For one and 
another reason, however, it was July 21 before the army 
was ready to attack. The day was Sunday, a brilliant, hot 
Washington day. Anxious as Mr. Lincoln was over the 
coming battle, he went to church as usual. It was while he 
was there that a distant roar of cannon, the first sounds of 
the battle, only twenty miles away, reached him. Returning 
to the White House after the services, the President's first in- 
quiry was for news. Telegrams had just begun to come in. 
They continued at intervals all the afternoon — broken re- 
ports from now this, now that, part of the field. Although 
fragmentary, they were as a whole encouraging. The Presi- 
dent studied them carefully, and after a time w^ent over to 



56 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

General Scott's headquarters to talk the news over with him. 
By half-past five he felt so sure that the field was won that 
he went out for his usual afternoon drive. What happened 
at the White House then the only eye witnesses, his secre- 
taries, have told in their History : 

" He had not returned when, at six o'clock, Secretary Sew- 
ard came to the Executive Mansion, pale and haggard. 
' Where is the President ? ' he asked hoarsely of the private 
secretaries. ' Gone to drive,' they answered. ' Have you 
any late news ? ' he continued. They read him the telegrams 
which announced victory. ' Tell no one,' said he. ' That 
is not true. The battle is lost. The telegraph says that Mc- 
Dowell is in full retreat and calls on General Scott to save 
the capital. Find the President and tell him to come imme- 
diately to General Scott's.' 

" Half an hour later the President returned from his drive, 
and his private secretaries gave him Seward's message, the 
first intimation he received of the trying news. He listened 
in silence, without the slightest change of feature or expres- 
sion, and walked away to army headquarters. There he read 
the unwelcome report in a telegram from a captain of engi- 
neers : ' General McDowell's army in full retreat through 
Centreville. The day is lost. Save Washington and the 
remnants of this army. . . The routed troops will not 
reform.' " 

From that time on, for at least twenty-four hours, a con- 
tinuous stream of tales of disaster was poured upon Mr. Lin- 
coln. A number of public men had gone from Washington 
to see the battle. Ex-Senator Dawes, who was among them, 
says that General Scott urged him to go, telling him that it 
was undoubtedly the only battle he would ever have a chance 
to see. About midnight they began to return. They came 
in haggard, worn, and horror-stricken, and a number of 
them repaired to the White House, where Mr. Lincoln, lying 
on his office sofa, listened to their tales of the panic that had 
seized the army about four in the afternoon and of the re- 



THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 57 

treat that had followed. All of those who returned that 
night to Washington were positive that the Confederates 
would attack the city before morning. 

The events of the next day were no less harrowing to Mr. 
Lincoln than those of the niglit. A drizzling rain was fall- 
ing, and from daybreak there could be seen, crowding and 
staggering across the Long Bridge, hundreds of soldiers, civ- 
ilians, negroes, and horses. Hour by hour the streets of the 
city grew fuller. On the corners white-faced women stood 
beside boilers of coffee, feeding the exhausted men. Now 
and then the remnants of a regiment or company which 
somehow had kept together marched up the street, mud- 
splashed and dejected. One of the most pathetic sights of the 
day was the return of Burnside and his men. The regiment 
and its handsome general had been one of the town's de- 
lights. Now they came back broken in numbers and so over- 
come with fatigue that man after man dropped in the streets 
as he marched, while slowly in front, his head on his breast, 
the reins on the neck of his exhausted horse, rode Burnside. 

Before Monday night, it was known that the enemy was 
not following up his advantage. Two days later the Union 
army was reintrenched on Arlington heights. A revulsion 
of feeling had already begun. The effort to make out the 
rout to be as complete and terrible as it could be, was fol- 
lowed by an attempt to show that it was nothing but a panic 
among teamsters and sight-seers. Mr. Lincoln was asked to 
listen to a number of these explanations. " Ah, I see," he 
said to one vindicator of the day, " we whipped the enemy, 
and then ran away from him." 

■ Explanations of the Battle of Bull Run did not interest the 
President. He was giving his whole mind to repairing the 
disaster. Two days later, July 23, he wrote out the follow- 
ing " Memoranda of Military Policy suggested by the Bull 
Run Defeat." Nicolay and Hay. to whose history we owe 



58 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

this document, say that the President made the first notes 
of this *' poHcy " while men were bringing him news of the 
disaster. 

1. Let the plan for making the blockade effective be 
pushed forw^ard with all possible dispatch. 

2. Let the volunteer forces at Fort Monroe and vicinity 
under General Butler be constantly drilled, disciplined, and 
instructed without more for the present. 

3. Let Baltimore be held as now, with a gentle but firm 
and certain hand. 

4. Let the force now under Patterson or Banks be 
strengthened and made secure in its position. 

5. Let the forces in Western Virginia act till further or- 
ders according to instructions or orders from General Mc- 
Clellan. 

6. Let General Fremont push forward his organization 
and operations in the West as rapidly as possible, giving 
rather special attention to Missouri. 

7. Let the forces late before Manassas, except the three 
months' men, be reorganized as rapidly as possible in their 
camps here and about Arlington. 

8. Let the three months' forces who decline to enter the 
longer service be discharged as rapidly as circumstances will 
permit. 

9. Let the new volunteer forces be brought forward as 
fast as possible ; and especially into the camps on the two 
sides of the river here. 

July 27, 1 86 1. 

When the foregoing shall be substantially attended to : 

1. Let Manassas Junction (or some point on one or other 
of the railroads near it) and Strasburg be seized, ard per- 
manently held, with an open line from Washington to Ma- 
nassas, and an open line from Harper's Ferry to Strasburg — 
the military men to find the way of doing these. 

2. This done, a joint movement from Cairo on Memphis; 
and from Cincinnati on East Tennessee. 

It was to points 7, 8 and 9 of the above memorandum that 
tiie President gave his first attention. 



THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 59 

Congress, prostrated as it was by the unexpected defeat, 
stood by Lincoln bravely, voting him men and money. Re- 
sources he was not going to lack. The confidence of the 
country was what he needed. To stimulate this confidence, 
Mr. Lincoln and his advisers summoned to Washington, on 
[uly 22, George B. McClellan, the only man who had thus 
far accomplished anything in the war on which the North 
looked with pride, and asked him to take the command of 
the demoralized army. A more effective move oiuld not 
have been made. 

McClellan was a West Point graduate who had seen serv- 
ice in the Mexican War, but who, in the spring of 1861 held 
a position as a railroad president. His home was in Cincin- 
nati. After the fall of Sumter the fear of invasion spread 
rapidly westward from Washington. On, April 21 the 
Governor of Ohio wired the Secretary of War that he desired 
a suitable United States officer to be detailed at once to take 
command of the volunteers of Cincinnati and to provide for 
the defense of that city, and the next day several leading men 
wired that the " People of Cincinnati " wished Captain 
McClellan to be appointed to the position. 

A month later, when West Virginia had decided to stay 
with the Union and Eastern Virginia had decided to coerce 
her to remain with the South, McClellan, who had been put 
in charge of the Ohio troops as his friends rc(|uestcd, was 
ordered to protect the Unionists of the section against the 
Southern army. Early in July he undertook an offensive 
campaign against the enemy, completely driving him from 
the country in less than three weeks. McClellan anncnmced 
his victories in a series of addresses which thrilled tlie North. 
They saw in him a great general, a second Napoleon and 
were satisfied w hen he was put in charge of the army that the 
disgrace of Bull Run would be speedily wi])ed out. 

While occupied in reorganizing and increasing the army, 



6o LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Mr. Lincoln did his best to improve the morale of officers 
and men. One of the first things he did, in fact, after the 
battle was to " run over and see the boys," as he expressed 
it. General Sherman, who was with Mr. Lincoln as he 
drove about the camps on this visit, says that he made one of 
the '■ neatest, best, and most feeling addresses " he ever lis- 
tened to, and that its effect on the troops was " excellent." 
As often as he could after this, Mr. Lincoln went to the Ar- 
lington camps. Frequently in these visits he left his car- 
riage and walked up and down the lines shaking hands with 
the men. repeating heartily as he did so, '' God bless you, 
God bless you." Before a month had passed, he saw that 
under McClellan's training the Army of the Potomac, as it 
had come to be called, had recovered almost completely from 
the panic of Bull Run, and that it was growing every day in 
efficiency. But scarcely had his anxiety over the condition 
of things around Washington been allayed, before a grave 
problem was raised in the West. The severest criticisms be- 
gan to come to him on the conduct of a man whom he had 
made a major-general and whom he had put in command 
of the important Western division, John C. Fremont. The 
force of these criticisms was intensified by serious disasters 
to the Union troops in Missouri. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE FAILURE OF FREMONT LINCOLN'S FIRST DIFFICULTIES 

WITH McCLELLAN THE DEATH OF WILLIE LINCOLN 

The most popular military appointment Lincoln made be- 
fore McClellan was that of John C. Fremont to the command 
of the Department of the West. Republicans appreciated it, 
for had not Fremont been the first candidate of their party 
for the Presidency? The West was jubilant : Fremont's ex- 
plorations had years before made him the hero of the land 
along the Mississippi. The cabinet was satisfied, particularly 
Postmaster-General Blair, whose " pet and protege " Fre- 
mont was. Lincoln himself " thought well of Fremont," 
believed he could do the work to be done; and he had al- 
ready had experience enough to discern that his great trou- 
ble was to be, not finding major-generals — he had more pegs 
than holes to put them in, he said one day — but finding ma- 
jor-generals who could do the thing they were ordered to do. 

Fremont had gone to his headquarters at St. Louis, Mis- 
souri, late in July. Before a month had passed, the gravest 
charges of incompetency and neglect of duty were being 
made against him. It was even intimated to the President 
that the General was using his position to work up a N^orth- 
western Confederacy.* Mr. Lincoln had listened to all these 

* Dr. Emil Preetorius, editor of the " Westliclie Post " of St. Louis, 
Mo., said of this charge, in an interview for this work : " I know that 
Fremont gave no countenance to any scheme which ollicrs may have 
conceived for the establishment of a Northwestern Confederacy. I had 
abundant proof, through the years that I knew him, that he was a patriot 
and a most unselfish man. The defect in Fremont was that he was a 
dreamer. Impractical, visionary things went a long way with liim. He 
was a poor judge of men and formed strange associations. He sur- 
rounded himself with foreigners, especially Hungarians, most of whom 

6i 



6k LIFE OF LINCOLN 

charges, but taken no action, when, on the morning of Aug- 
ust 30, he was amazed to read it in his newspaper that Fre- 
mont had issued a proclamation declaring, among other 
things, that the property, real and personal, of all the per- 
sons in the State of Missouri who should take up arms 
against the United States, or who should be directly proved 
to have taken an active part with its enemies in the field, 
would be confiscated to public use and their slaves, if they 
had any, declared freemen. 

Fremont's proclamation astonished the country as much 
as it did the President. In the North it elicited almost uni- 
versal satisfaction. This was striking at the root of the 
trouble — slavery. But in the Border States, particularly in 
Kentucky, the Union party was dismayed. The only possi- 
ble method of keeping those sections in the Union was not 
to interfere with slavery. Mr. Lincoln saw this as clearly 
as his Border State supporters. It was well known that this 
was his policy. He felt that Fremont had not only defied 
the policy of the administration, he had usurped power which 
belonged only to the legislative part of the government. He 
had a good excuse for reprimanding the general, even for 
removing him. Instead, he wrote him, on September 2, a 
most kindly letter : 

I think there is great danger that the closing paragraph 
[of the proclair.ation]. in relation to the confiscation of 
property and the liberating slaves of traitorous owners, will 



were adventurers and some of whom were swindlers. I struggled hard 
to persuade him not to let these men have so much to do with his ad- 
ministration. Mrs. Fremont, unlike the General, was most practical. 
She was fond of success. She and the General were alike, however, in 
their notions of the loyalty due between friends. Once, when I pro- 
tested against the character of the men who surrounded Fremont, she 
replied : ' Do you know these very men went out with us on horseback 
when we took possession of the Mariposa? They risked their lives for 
us. Now \"f can't go back on them.' It was the woman's feeling. She 
forgcfi tha'- brave men may sometimes be downright thieves and rob- 
bers " 



THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 63 

alarm our Southern Union friends and turn them against 
us; perhaps ruin our rather fair prospect for Kentucky. Al- 
low me, therefore, to ask that you will as of your own mo- 
tion, modify that paragraph so as to conform to the first and 
fourth sections of the act of Congress entitled, " An act to 
confiscate property u?ed for insurrectionary purposes," ap- 
proved August 6, 1 86 1, and a copy of which act I herewith 
send you. 

This letter is written in a spirit of caution, and not of cen- 
sure. I send it hy special messenger, in order that it may 
certainly and speedily reach you. 

But Lincoln did more than this. Without waiting for 
Fremont's reply to the above, he went over carefully all the 
criticisms on the General's administration, in order to see 
if he could help him. His conclusion was that Fremont was 
isolating himself too much from men who were interested 
in the same cause, and so did not know what was going on 
in the very matter he was dealing with. That Air. Lincoln 
hit the very root of Fremont's difficulty is evident from the 
testimony of the men who were with the General in IMis- 
souri at the time. Colonel George E. Leighton of St. Louis, 
who became provost-marshal of the city in the fall of 1861, 
says : 

Fremont isolated himself, and, unlike Grant, llallcck, and 
others of like rank, was unapproachable. When Halleck 
came here to assume command and called on Fremont, he 
was accompanied simply by a member of his staffs ; but when 
Fremont returned the call, he rode down with great pomp 
and ceremony, escorted by his staff and bodyguard of one 
hundred men. 

General B. G. Farrar recounts his experience in trying to 
get an important message to Fremont from General Lyon, 
who was at Springfield with an insufficient force : 

Word was returned to me that General Fremont was very 
busy, that he could not receive the dispatch then, and re- 



04 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

quested me to call in the afternoon. I called in the after* 
noon, and was again told that General Fremont was very 
busy. Three days passed before I succeeded in obtaining an 
audience with Fremont. As commander of the department 
Fremont assumed all the prerogatives of an absolute ruler. 
The approach to his headquarters was through a long line 
of guards. There were guards at the corners of the streets, 
guards at the gate, guards at the door, guards at the entrance 
to the adjutant-general's office, and a whole regiment of 
troops in the barracks adjacent to his headquarters. I saw 
his order making Colonel Harding of the home guard a 
brigadier-general. Tliis was done without consultation 
with the President and without authority of law. The Czar 
of Russia could hardly be more absolute in his authority than 
Fremont assumed to be at St. Louis. . . . Fremont never 
asked \\^ashington for authority to do a thing. While at 
St. Louis Fremont visited nobody, so far as I know. When 
he went forth from his headquarters at all he went under the 
escort of his bodyguard and a staff brilliantly uniformed. 
When he removed his headquarters to Jefferson City he went 
on a special train, with all the trappings and surroundings of 
a royal potentate. . . ." 

Having made up his mind what Fremont's fault was, Lin- 
coln asked General David Hunter to go to Missouri. " He 
[Fremont] needs to have at his side a man of large experi- 
ence," he wrote to Flunter. " ^^'ill you net, for me. take 
that place? Your rank is one grade too high to be ordered 
to it, but will you not serve the country ar^d oblige me by 
taking it voluntarily? " At the same time that Hunter was 
asked to go to Fremont's relief, Postmaster-General Blair 
\vent to St. Louis, with the President's approbation, to talk 
with the General " as a friend." 

In the meantime, Lincoln's letter of September 2 had 
reached Fremont. After a few days the General replied that 
he wished the President himself would make the qfeneral or- 
der modifying the clause of the proclamation which referred 
to the liberation of slaves. This letter he sent by his wife. 



THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 05 

Jessie Benton Fremont, a woman of ambition and great en- 
ergy of character. " While Fremont was in command of 
the Department, Mrs. Fremont was the real chief of staff," 
says Col. Geo. F. Leighton. " She was a woman of strong 
personality, having inherited much of the brains and force 
of character which distinguished her father, Senator Ben- 
ton." " Mrs. Fremont was much like her father," says Judge 
Clover of St. Louis. " She was intellectual and possessed 
great force of will." She started East deeply indignant that 
Mr. Lincoln should ask her husband to modify his procla- 
mation. When she reached Washington, she learned that 
Mr. Blair had gone to St. Louis. Jumping to the conclusion 
that it was with an order to remove her husband she hastened ■ 
to Mr. Lincoln. It was midnight, but the President gave 
her an audience. Without waiting for an explanation, she 
violently charged him with sending an enemy to Missouri, 
to look into Fremont's case and threatening that if Fremont 
desired to he could set up a government for himself. " I 
had to exercise all the rude tact I have to avoid quarrelling 
with her," said Mr. Lincoln afterwards. 

The day after this interview Lincoln sent the order modi- 
fying the clause as Fremont had requested. When this was 
made public, a perfect storm of denunciation broke over the 
President. The whole North felt outraged. There was talk 
of im.peaching Lincoln and of replacing him with Fremont. 
Great newspapers criticised his action, warning him to learn 
whither he was tending. Influential men in all professions 
spoke bitterly of his action. " How many times," wrote 
James Russell Lowell to Miss Norton, " are we to sa\-e Ken- 
tucky and lose our self-respect ? " The hardest of these 
criticisms for Lincoln to bear were those from his old friends 
in Illinois, nearly all of whom supported Fremont. 

The general supposition throughout the country at this 
time was that the President would remove Fremont. He, 
(5) 



^6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

however, had no idea of dismissing the General on the 
ground of the proclamation, and he hoped, as he wrote to 
Senator Browning, that no real necessity existed for it on 
any ground. The hope was vain. Disasters to the Union 
army, the evident result of the General's inefficiency, and 
positive proofs of corruption in the management of the finan- 
cial affairs of the Department, multiplied. In spite of ex- 
postulations and threats from Fremont's supporters, Lincoln 
decided tu remove him. But he would not do it without 
giving him a last chance. In sending the order for his re- 
moval and the appointment of General Hunter to his place, 
he directed that it was not to be delivered if there was any 
evidence that Fremont had fought, or was about to fight, a 
battle. It was not only Lincoln's sense of justice which led 
him to give a last chance to Fremont ; it was a part of that 
far-seeing political wisdom of his — not to displace men until 
they themselves had demonstrated their unfitness so clearly 
that even their friends must finally agree that he had done 
right. 

It was generally believed in Missouri that Fremont had 
decided to receive no bearer of despatches, so that if the 
President did remove him he could say that he never had 
been informed of the fact. General Curtis, to whom Lin- 
coln forwarded his order by his friend Leonard Swett 
knowing this, sent copies by three separate messengers to 
Fremont's headquarters. The one who delivered it first was 
General T. I. McKenny, now of Olympia, Washington. His 
story, written out for this work, is good evidence of the pass 
to which things had come in h'remont's department : 

About three o'clock at night, on October 27, 1861, I think 
it was, I was awakened l)y a messenger stating that General 
Curtis desired to see me at his headquarters. I found Leon- 
ard Swett there with the General, who informed me that he 
had an important message from the President to be taken 



THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 67 

to General Fremont, then in the field, it not being known 
where. I was shown the order that I was to convey, that 
General Fremont was relieved of his command of the De- 
partment of the West and General Hunter placed tempo- 
rarily in his stead. Aside from this, I had special instruc- 
tions which I understood were Mr. Lincoln's own — 

1st. If General Fremont had fought and gained a decided 
victory — not a mere skirmish — then not to deliver the mes- 
sage. 

2d. If he was in the immediate presence of the enemy and 
about to begin a battle, not to deliver it. 

3d. If neither of these conditions prevailed, to deliver it 
and to make it known immediately, as it was thought that he 
was determined to receive no orders superseding him. 

I immediately went to St. Louis, waked up a second-hand 
dealer in clothing and fitted myself out as a Southern planter, 
and then took the train for Rolla, Missouri. There I secured 
horses and a guide, and about two o'clock at night rode rap- 
idly south in the direction of Springfield, Missouri, where I 
expected to find Fremont. I rode this distance principally 
in the night, passing through the small rebel towns at a very 
rapid gait. About 117 miles from Rolla I reached the outer 
cordon of Fremont's pickets. Here I had difiiculty getting 
through the lines, as the instructions to the guard were very 
stringent. When I finally got in, there being no immediate 
prospects of a battle, I straightway made my way to Fre- 
mont's headquarters, where I met the officer of the day, who 
told me that I could not see General Fremont, but that he 
wnulcl introduce me to his chief of staff. Colonel Eaton. The 
latter also told me that I could not see the General ; but if I 
\\(^ukl make my business kncnvn to him, that he would com- 
municate it to Fremont. This I positively refused to do. 
He returned to Fremont, and communicated what I had said, 
but it had no effect. Late in the evening, however, I was 
hunted up by Colonel Eaton, who took me to General Fre- 
mont's office. 

The General was sitting at the end of (|nilo a lo'ig table 
facing the door by which 1 entered, i nc\ er can forget the 
appearance of the man as he sat there, with his piercing eye, 
and his hair parted in the middle. I ripped from my coat 



68 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

lining the document, which had been sewed in there, and 
handed the same to him, which he nervously took and opened. 
He glanced at the superscription, and then at the signature at 
the bottom, not looking at the contents. A frown came over 
his brow, and he slammed the paper down on the table, and 
said, " Sir, how did you get admission into my lines? " I 
told him that I had come in as a messenger bearing informa- 
tion from the rebel lines. He waved me out, saying, " That 
will do for the present." 

I had orders to make the contents of the document known 
as soon as delivered. The first man I met was General Stur- 
gis, to whom I gave the information. I was then overtaken 
by the chief of staff, Eaton, who said that General Fremont 
was much disappointed with the communication, as he had 
thought that I had information from the rebel forces, and 
that he requested me not to make the message known for the 
present. 

I then told Colonel Eaton that I had important despatches 
for General Hunter and would like transportation and a 
guide, and he remarked that he would consult General Fre- 
mont on the subject. He soon returned with the informa- 
tion that Fremont did not know where General Hunter was 
and refused to give me any transportation, saying that he had 
been relieved and had no authority to d(^ so. I then went to 
a self-styled " Colonel " Richardson, who had a kind of ma- 
rauding company, having been mustered into neither the 
United States service nor the State service. I gave him to 
understand that I would use my influence to have him regu- 
larly mustered into the service, whcrcui)on he furnished me 
with a good horse and a ])retcndc(l guide. 1 could get no 
information in regard to I lunter. but there was a rumor that 
he was making towards Springfield and was in the region 
of a place called Buffalo. I therefore started out about eleven 
o'clock at night on the Buffalo road, and, after great diffi- 
culty, reached the town about daylight, but I could hear 
nothing of General Hunter. 1 left my guide, and started out 
on the road to Bolivar. I had not proceeded more than 
twelve or fifteen miles before I heard the rattling of horses' 
hoofs in my rear. I stopped ti> await their arriwil. and found 
that they were a small detachment of Hunter's troops to in- 



THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 69 

form me that the General had just arrived in Buffalo, where- 
upon I retraced my steps and delivered my message. ( loncral 
Hunter immediately started for Springfield in a four-mule 
ambulance. ArriA'ing, he issued a short proclamation as- 
suming command. It was thought by some that this would 
produce a mutiny among the foreign element. It did not. 

It was not in the West alone that the President was suffer- 
ing disappointment. At the time when Fremont received the 
order retiring him, McClellan had been in command of the 
Army of the Potomac for over three months. His force had 
been increased until it numbered over 168,000 men. lie had 
given night and day to organizing and drilling this army, 
and it seemed to those v/ho watched him that he now had a 
force as near ready for battle as an army could be made 
ready by anything save actual fighting. Mr. Lincoln had 
fully sympathized with his young general's desire to pre- 
pare the Army of the Potomac for the field, and he had given 
him repeated proofs of his support. McClellan, however, 
seems to have felt from the first that Mr. Lincoln's kindness 
was merely a personal recognition of his own military ge- 
nius. He had conceived the idea that it was he alone who 
was to save the country. " The people call upon me to save 
the country," he wrote to his wife. " I must save it, and 
cannot respect anything that is in the way." The President's 
suggestions, when they did not agree with his own ideas, he 
regarded as an interference. Thus he imagined that the 
enemy had three or four times his force, and when the Presi- 
dent doubted this he complained, " The President cannot or 
will not see the true state of affairs." Lincoln, in his anxiety 
to know the details of the work in the army, went frequently 
to McClellan's headquarters. That the President had a 
serious purpose in these visits McClellan did not see. " I 
enclose a card just received from ' A. Lincoln,' " he wrote to 
his wife one day; " it shows too much deference to be seen 



yo LIFE OF LINCOLN 

outside." In another letter to Mrs. McClellan he spoke of 
being "interrupted" by the President and Secretary Seward, 
" who had nothing in particular to say," and again of con- 
cealing himself " to dodge all enemies in shape of ' brows- 
ing ' Presidents, etc." His plans he kept to himself, and 
when at the Cabinet meetings, to which he was constantly 
summoned, military matters were discussed, he seemed to 
feel that it was an encroachment on his special business. " I 
am becoming daily more disgusted with this Administration 
— perfectly sick of it," he wrote early in October; and a 
few days later, " I was obliged to attend a meeting of the 
Cabinet at 8 p. m. and was bored and annoyed. There are 
some of the greatest geese in the Cabinet I have ever seen — 
enough to tax the patience of Job." 

As time went on, he began to show plainly his contempt 
of the President, frequently allowing him to wait in the ante- 
room of his house while he transacted business with others. 
This discourtesy was so open that McClellan's staff noticed 
it, and newspaper correspondents commented on it. The 
President w'as too keen not to see the situation, but he was 
strong enough to ignore it. It was a battle he wanted from 
McClellan, not deference. " I will hold McClellan's horse, 
if he will only bring us success," he said one day. 

While there was a pretty general disposition at first to give 
McClellan time to organize, before the first three months 
were up Lincoln was receiving impatient comments on the 
inactivity of the army. This impatience became anger and 
dismay when, on October 21, the battle of Ball's Bluff 
ended in defeat. To Mr. Lincoln. Ball's Blufif was more 
than a military reverse. By it he suffered a terrible personal 
loss, in the death of one of his oldest and dearest friends, 
Colonel E. D. Baker. Mr. C. C. Coffin, who was at McClel- 
lan's headquarters when Lincoln received the news of his 
friend's deaths tells of the scene: 



THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 71 

The afternoon was lovely, a rare October day. I learned 
early in the day that something was going on up the Poto- 
mac, near Edwards's Ferry, by the troops under General 
Banks. What was going on no one knew, even at McClel- 
lan's headquarters. It was near sunset when, accompanied 
by a fellow correspondent, 1 went to ascertain what was 
taking place. We entered the ante-room, and sent our cards 
to General McClellan. While we waited, President Lincoln 
came in ; he recognized us, reached out his hand, spoke of the 
beauty of the afternoon, while waiting for the return of the 
young lieutenant who had gone to announce his arrival. The 
lines were deeper in the President's face than when I saw him 
in his own home, the cheeks more sunken. They had lines of 
care and anxiety. For eighteen months he had borne a bur- 
den such as has fallen upon few men, a burden as weighty 
as that which rested upon the great law-giver of Israel. 

" Please to walk this way," said the lieutenant. We could 
hear the click of the telegraph in the adjoining room and low 
conversation between the President and General McClellan, 
succeeded by silence, excepting the click, click of the instru- 
ment, which went on with its tale of disaster. Five minutes 
passed, and then Mr. Lincoln, unattended, with bowed head 
and tears rolling down his furrowed cheeks, his face pale 
and wan, his breast heaving with emotion, passed through 
the room. He almost fell as he stepped into the street. We 
sprang involuntarily from our seats to render assistance, but 
he did not fall. With both hands pressed upon liis heart, he 
walked down the street, not returning the salute of the senti- 
nel pacing his beat before the door. 

General McClellan came a moment later. " I have not 
much news to tell you," he said. " There has been a move- 
ment of troops across the Potomac at Edwards's Ferry, 
under General Stone, and Colonel Baker is reported killed. 
That is about all I can give you." 

V 

After Ball's Bluff, the grumbling against inaction in the 
Army of the Potomac increased until public attention was 
suddenly distracted by an incident of an entirely new char- 
acter, and one which changed the discouragement of the 



72 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

North over the repeated mihtary failures and the inactivity 
of the army into exultation. This incident was the capture, 
on November 8, by Captain Wilkes, of the warship San 
Jacinto, of two Confederate commissioners to Europe, 
Messrs. Mason and Slidell. Captain Wilkes had stopped 
the British royal mail packet Trent, one day out from 
Havana, and taken the envoys with their secretaries from 
her. It was not until November 15 that Captain Wilkes put 
into Hampton Roads and sent the Navy Department word of 
his performance. 

Of course the message was immediately carried to Mr. 
Lincoln at the White House. A few hours later Benson J. 
Lossing called on the President, and the conversation turned 
on the news. Mr. Lincoln did not hesitate to express him- 
self. 

" I fear the traitors will prove to be white elephants," he 
said. " We must stick to American principles concerning 
the rights of neutrals. We fought Great Britain for insist- 
ing by theory and practice on the right to do exactly what 
Captain Wilkes has done. If Great Britain shall now pro- 
test against the act and demand their release, we must give 
them up, apologize for the act as a violation of our doc- 
trines, and thus forever bind her over to keep the peace in 
relation to neutrals, and so acknowledge that she has been 
wrong for sixty years." 

As time went on, Lincoln had every reason to suppose that 
there was an overwhelming sentiment in the country in fa- 
vor of keeping the commissioners and braving the wrath of 
England. Banquets and presentations, votes of thanks by 
the cabinet and by Congress, all kinds of ovation, were ac- 
corded Captain Wilkes. During this excitement the Presi- 
dent held his peace, not even referring to theaffair in themes- 
sage he sent to Congress on December 3. He was studying 
the situation. Before his inauguration he had said one day to 



THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 73 

Seward : " One part of the business, Governor Seward, I 
think I shall leave almost entirely in your hands; that is, the 
dealing with those foreign nations and their governments." 
Now, however, he saw that he must exercise a controlling 
influence. The person with whom he seems to have dis- 
cussed the case most seriously was Charles Sumner, tlie 
chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. 

Sumner was one of the few men who had from the first 
believed in Lincoln. Although himself most radical, he had 
been appreciative of the President-elect's point of view, and 
had seen in the interval between the election and the inau- 
guration that, as a matter of fact, Lincoln was, on the es- 
sential question at issue, " firm as a chain of steel." Thus, 
on January 26, he wrote, " Mr. Lincoln is perfectly firm. 
He says that the Republican party shall not, with his assent, 
become a mere sucked egg, all shell and no meat, the princi- 
ple all sucked out." Although himself a most polished, even 
a fastidious gentleman, Sumner never allowed Lincoln's 
homely ways to hide his great qualities. He gave him a re- 
spect and esteem at the start which others accorded only 
after experience. The Senator was most tactful, too, in his 
dealings with Mrs. Lincoln, and soon had a firm footing in 
the household. That he was proud of this, perhaps a little 
boastful, there is no doubt. Lincoln himself appreciated this. 
" Sumner thinks he runs me," he said, with an amused twin- 
kle, one day. After the seizure of Mason and Slidell. the 
President talked over the question frequently with Sumner, 
who had, from the receipt of the news, declared, " We shall 
have to give them up." 

Early in December, word reached America that England 
was getting ready to go to war in case we did not give up the 
commissioners. The news ariuised the deepest indignation, 
and the determination to keep Mason and Slidell was for a 
brief time stronger than ever. Common sense was doing its 



74 LIFE OP LINCOLN 

work, however. Gradually the people began to feel that, 
after all, the commissioners were '* white elephants." On 
December 19, the Administration received a notice that the 
only redress which would satisfy the British government 
would be " the liberation of the four gentlemen," and their 
delivery to the British minister at Washington and a " suit- 
able apology for the aggression which had been committed." 
In the days which followed, while the Secretary of State was 
preparing the reply to be submitted, Sumner was much with 
the President. We have the Senator's assurance that the 
President was applying his mind carefully to the answer, so 
that it would be essentially his. It is evident from Sumner's 
letter, that Lincoln was resolved that there should be no war 
with England. Thus, on December 23, Sumner wrote to 
John Bright, with whom he maintained a regular corre- 
spondence : " Your letter and also Cobden's I showed at once 
to the President, who is much moved and astonished by the 
English intelligence. He is essentially honest and pacific in 
disposition, with a natural slowness. Yesterday he said to 
me, * There will be no war unless England is bent upon hav- 
ing one.' " 

It was on Christmas day that feeward finally had his an- 
swer ready. It granted the British demand as to the sur- 
render of the prisoners, though it refused an apology — on 
the ground that Captain Wilkes had acted without orders. 
After the paper had been discussed by the Cabinet, but no de- 
cision reached, and all of the members but Seward had de- 
parted, Lincoln said, according to Mr. Frederick Seward: 
" Governor Seward, you will go on, of course, preparing 
your answer, which, as I understand it, will state the rea- 
sons why they ought to be given up. Now, I have a mind 
to try my hand at stating the reasons why they ought not 
to be given up. We will compare the points on each side." 

But the next day, after a Cabinet meeting at which it was 



THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 7$ 

decided finally to return the prisoners, when Secretary Sew- 
ard said to the President: " You thought you might frame 
an argument for the other side? " Mr. Lincoln smiled, and 
shook his head. " I found I could not make an argument 
that would satisfy my own mind," he said ; " and that proved 
to me your ground was the right one." 

Lincoln's first conclusion was the real ground on which 
the Administration submitted : " We must stick to American 
principles concerning the rights of neutrals." Tlie country 
grimaced at the conclusion. It was to many, as Chase de- 
clared it was to him, " gall and wormv/ood." Lowell's clever 
verse expressed best the popular feeling : 

We give tlie critters back, John, 
Cos Abram thought 't was right; 

It warn't your bullyin' clack, John, 
Provokin' us to fight. 

The decision raised Mr. Lincoln immeasurably in the view 
of thoughtful men, especially in England. 

" If reparation were made at all of which few of us felt 
more than a hope," wrote John Stuart Mill, " we thought 
that it would be made obviously as a concession to prudence, 
not to principle. We thought that there would have been 
truckling to the newspaper editors and supposed fire-eaters 
who were crying out for retaining the prisoners at all haz- 
ards. . . . We expected everything, in short, which 
would have been weak, and timid, and paltry. The only 
thing which no one seemed to expect is what has actually 
happened. Mr. Lincoln's government have done none of 
these things. Like honest men they have said in direct terms 
that our demand was right ; that they yielded to it because 
it was just ; that if they themselves had received the same 
treatment, they would have demanded the same reparation ; 
and if what seemed to be the American side of the question 
was not the just side, they would be on the side of justice, 
happy as they were to find after their resolution had been 
taken, that it was also the side which America had formerly 



76 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

defended. Is there arxy one capable of a moral judgment or 
feeling, who will say that his opinion of America and Ameri- 
I can statesmen is not raised by such an act, done on such 
grounds ? " 

Before the Trent affair was settled another matter 
came up to distract attention from McClellan's inactivity 
and to harass Mr. Lincoln. This time it was trouble in his 
official family. Mr. Cameron, his Secretary of War, had 
become even more obnoxious to the public than Fremont or 
McClellan. Like Seward, Cameron had been one of Lin- 
coln's competitors at the Chicago Convention in i860. His 
appointment to the Cabinet, however, had not been made, 
like Seward's, because of his eminent fitness. It was the one 
case in which a bargain had been made before the nomina- 
tion. This bargain was not struck by Mr. Lincoln, but by 
his friend and ablest supporter at Chicago, Judge David 
Davis. There was so general a belief in the country that 
Cameron was corrupt in his political methods that, when it 
was noised that he was to be one of Lincoln's Cabinet, a 
strong effort was made to displace him. It succeeded tempo- 
rarily, the President- elect withdrawing the promise of ap- 
pointment after he had made it. Such pressure was brought 
to bear, however, that in the end he made Judge Davis's 
pledge good and gave the portfolio of war to Mr. Cameron. 

The unsatisfactory preliminaries to the appointment must 
have affected the relations of the two men. Cameron's ene- 
mies watched liis Administration with sharp eyes, and not 
long after the war began commenced to bring accusations 
of maladministration to the President. The gist of them 
was that contracts were awarded for politics' sake and that 
the government was being swindled wholesale. 

" We hear," said the " Evening Post " in June, " of knap- 
sacks glued together and falling to pieces after the first day's 
use ; of uniform coats which are torn to pieces with a slight 



THE FAILURE OF FREMONT ^^ 

pull of the fingers; of blankets too small if they were good, 
and too poor stuff to be useful if tliey were of the proper 
size, shoes, caps, trousers, coats — all are too often of such 
poor material that before a soldier is ready for service he 
must be clothed anew." 

Soon after the extra session of Congress assembled in July, 
a committee was appointed to look into the contracts the 
War Department w^as making. This committee spent the 
entire fall in investigation, sitting in Boston, New York, 
Chicago, St. Louis, and other cities. Its report, when made 
public in December, proved to be full of sensational devel- 
opments. The Secretary of War, it was clear, had not been 
able to manage his department without great scandal. If he 
himself were incorruptible he was not big enough for his 
duties and inefficiency in affairs of State, particularly in time 
of war, is crinfinal. The matter was too serious a one for 
Mr, Lincoln to overlook. The public would not have per- 
mitted him to overlook it, even if he had been so disposed. 

Cameron not only brought the President into trouble by 
his bad management of the business of his office ; but in his 
December report he attempted, without Mr. Lincoln's knowl- 
edge, to advocate a measure in direct opposition to what he 
knew to be the President's policy in regard to slavery. This 
measure declared in favor of arming the slaves and employ- 
ing " their services against the rebels, under proper military 
regulation, discipline, and command." This report was 
m."»iled before the President saw it; but by his order it was 
p' jmptly withdrawn from circulation as soon as he knew its 
cjntents. 

Nine months of this sort of experience convinced Lincoln 
that Cameron was not the man for the place, and he took 
adv-antage of a remark which the Secretary, probably in a 
moment of depression, had made to him more than once, that 
he wanted a " change of position," and made him Minister 



78 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

to Russia. It is plain from Lincoln's letters to Cameron at 
this time and his subsequent treatment of him that, with 
characteristic fair-dealing, he took into consideration all the 
enormous difficulties which beset the Secretary of War. He 
saw what the public refused to see, that ** to bring the War 
Department up to the standard of the times, and work an 
army of 500,000 with machinery adapted to a peace estab- 
lishment of 12,000, is no easy task." He had all this in mind 
evidently when he relieved Cameron, for he assured him of 
his personal regard and of his confidence in his " ability, pa- 
triotism, and fidelity to public trust." A few months later 
he did still more for Cameron. In April, 1862, Congress 
passed a bill censuring the Secretary for certain of his trans- 
actions. The President soon after sent the body a message 
in which he claimed that he himself was equally responsible 
in the transaction for which Cameron was being censured : 

I should be wanting equally in candor and in justice if I 
should leave the censure expressed in this resolution to rest 
exclusively or chiefly upon Mr. Cameron. The same senti- 
ment is unanimously entertained by the heads of departments 
who participated in the proceedings which the House of Rep- 
resentatives has censured. It is due to Mr. Cameron to say 
that, although he fully approved the proceedings, they were 
not moved nor suggested b)^ himself, and that not only the 
President but all the other heads of departments, were at least 
equally responsible with him for whatever error, wrong, or 
fault was committed in the premises. 

In deciding on a successor to Mr. Cameron, the President 
showed more clearly, perhaps, than in any other appointment 
of his whole presidential career how far above personal re- 
sentments he was in his public dealings. He chose a man 
who six years before, at a time when consideration from a 
superior meant a great deal to him, had subjected him to a 
slight, and this for no other apparent reason than that he was 
rude in dress and unpolished in manner ; a man who, besides, 



THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 79 

had been his most scornful, even vituperative, critic since his 
election. This man was Edwin M. Stanton, a law-yer of abil- 
ity, integrity, and loyalty, who had won the confidence of the 
North by his patriotic services in Buchanan's Cabinet from 
December, i860, to the close of his administration, March 4, 
1 86 1. Lincoln's first encounter with Stanton had been in 
1855, in his first case of importance outside of Illinois. He 
was a counsel in the case with Stanton, but the latter ignored 
him so openly that all those associated with them observed it. 

Lincoln next knew of Stanton Vv^hen, as President-elect, 
he watched from Springfield the deplorable dissolution of 
the federal authority which Buchanan allowed, and he must 
have felt profoundly grateful for the new vigor and determi- 
nation which were infused into the Administration when, in 
December, i860, Stanton and Holt entered Buchanan's Cabi- 
net. After Lincoln was inaugurated he had nothing to do 
with Stanton. In fact he did not see him from the 4th of 
March, 1861, to the dav he handed him his commission as 
Secretary of War, in January, 1862. Stanton, however, was 
watching Lincoln's administration closely, even disdainfully. 
After Bull Run he wrote to ex-President Buchanan : " The 
imbecility of this Administration culminated in that catas- 
trophe; an irretrievable misfortune and national disgrace, 
never to be forgotten, are to be added to the ruin of all peace- 
ful pursuits and national bankrputcy, as the result of Lin- 
coln's ' running the machine ' for five months." 

McClellan, who saw much of Stanton in the fall of 1861, 
says : 

The most disagreeable thing about him was the extreme 
virulence with which he abused the President, the Adminis- 
tration, and the Republican party. He carried this to such 
an extent that I was often shocked by it. He never spoke of 
the President in any other way than as the " original go- 
rilla," and often said that Du Chaillu was a fool to wandei 



Ho LIFE OF LINCOLN 

all the way to Africa in search of what he could so easily 
have found at Spring-field, Illinois. Nothing could have been 
more bitter than his words and manner always were when 
speaking of the Administration and the Republican party. 
He never gave them credit for honesty or patriotism, and 
very seldom for any ability. 

Lincoln, if he knew of this abuse, which is improbable, re- 
garded it no more seriously than he did McClellan's slights. 
He knew Stanton was able and loyal ; that the country be- 
lieved in him ; that he would administer the department with 
honesty and energy. Furthermore, he knew of the intimacy 
between McClellan and Stanton, and as he saw the great 
necessity of harmonious relations between the head of the 
War Department and the commander of the army, he was 
more in favor of Stanton, The appointment was generally 
regarded as a wise selection, and in many quarters aroused 
enthusiasm. 

" No man ever entered upon the discharge of the most mo- 
mentous public duties under more favorable auspices, so far 
as public confidence and support can create such auspices," 
said the New York " Tribune." " In all the loyal States 
there has not been one dissent from the general acclamation 
which hailed Mr. Stanton's appointment as eminently wise 
and happy. The simple truth is that Mr. Stanton was not 
appointed to and does not accept the War Department in 
support of any program or policy whatever, but the un- 
qualified and uncompromising vindication of the authority 
and integrity of the Union. Whatever views he may enter- 
tain respecting slavery will not be allowed to swerve him 
one hair from the line of paramount and single-hearted de- 
votion to the National cause. If slavery or anti-slavery shall 
at any time be found obstructing or impeding the nation in 
its efforts to crush out this monstrous rebellion, he will walk 
straight on in the path of duty though that path should lead 
him over or through the impediment and insure its annihila- 
tion/' 



THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 8l 

Stanton took hold of his task with the aggressive ear- 
nestness and energy of his nature. He made open war on 
contractors. He did not hesitate to let McClellan know 
that he expected an advance. As he wrote Charles A. Dana 
on January 22 : 

" This army has got to fight or run away ; and while men 
are striving nobly in the West, the champagne and oysters 
on the Potomac must be stopped." 

It is evident from this same letter to Mr. Dana that he had 
undertaken to discipline even the President for his habit of 
joking : 

" I feel a deep, earnest feeling growing up around me. We 
have no jokes or trivialities, but all with whom I act show 
that they are in dead earnest." 

The excitement over the Trent affair, the investigation 
of the War Department, the dismissal of Cameron, and 
the appointment of Stanton, diverted public criticism from 
McClellan ; but never for long at a time. The inactivity of 
the Army of the Potomac had become the subject of gibes 
and sneers. Lincoln stood by the General. He had promised 
him all the " sense and information " he had, and he gave it. 
When Congress opened on December 3, he took the oppor- 
tunity to remind the country that the General was its own 
choice, as well as his, and that support was due him : 

Since your last adjournment Lieutenant-General Scott 
has retired from the head of the army. . . . With the 
retirement of General Scott came the executive duty of ap- 
pointing in his stead a general-in-chief of the army. It is a 
fortunate circumstance that neither in council nor country 
was there, so far as I know, any difference of o])inion as tc 
the proper person to be selected. The retiring cliief rci)eat- 
edly expressed his judgment in favor of General McClellan 
for the position, and in this the nation seemed to give a 
unanimous concurrence. The designation of General Mc- 

(6) 



82 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Clellan Is, therefore, in considerable degree the selection of 
the country as well as of the executive, and hence there is 
better reason to hope there will be given him the confidence 
and cordial support thus by fair implication promised, and 
without which he cannot with so full efficiency serve the 
country. 

At this time Lincoln had every reason to believe that Mc- 
Clellan would soon move. The General certainly was assur- 
ing the few persons whom he condescended to take into his 
confidence to that effect. The Hon. Galusha A. Grow, of 
Pennsylvania, Speaker of the House, says that very soon 
after Congress came together, the members began to com- 
ment on the number of board barracks that were going up 
around Washington. 

" It seemed to them," says Mr. Grow, " that there were a 
great many more than were necessary for hospital and re- 
serve purposes. The roads at that time in Virginia were ex- 
cellent ; everybody was eager for an advance. Congressmen 
observed the barracks with dismay ; it looked as if McClellan 
was going into winter quarters. Finally several of them 
came to me and stated their anxiety, asking what it meant. 
' Well, gentlemen,' I said, ' I don't know what it means, but 
I will ask the General,' so I went to McClellan. who received 
me kindly, and told him how all the members were feeling, 
and asked him if the army was really going into winter quar- 
ters. * No, no,' McClellan said, ' I have no intention of put- 
ting the army into winter quarters : T mean the campaign 
shall be short, sharp, and decisive.' He began explaining his 
plan to me, but I interrupted him, saying I did not desire to 
know his plan ; I preferred not to know it, in fact. If I could 
assure members of Congress that the army was going to 
move, it was all that was necessary. I returned with his as- 
surance that there would soon be an advance. Weeks went 
on, however, without the promised advance; nor did the 
Army of the Potomac leave the vicinity of Washington until 
Mr. Lincoln issued the special orders compelling McClellan 
to move." 



THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 83 

Lincoln continued to defend McClellan. " We've got to 
stand by the General," he told his visitors. " I suppose," he 
added dubiously, " he knows his business." But loyal as he 
was he too was losing patience. His friend, Mr. Arnold, tells 
how the President said one day to a friend of General Mc- 
Clellan, doubtless with the expectation that it would be re- 
peated : " McClellan's tardiness reminds me of a man in 
Illinois, whose attorney was not sufficiently aggressive. The 
client knew a few law phrases, and finally, after waiting un- 
til his patience was exhausted by the non-action of his coun- 
sel, he sprang to his feet and exclaimed : '* Why don't you go 
at him with a Fi fa demurrer, a capias, a surrebutter, or a nc 
exeat, or something, and not stand there like a nudum pac- 
tum, or a non est? " 

Later he made a remark which was repeated up and down 
the country: " If General McClellan does not w-ant to use 
the army for some days, I should like to borrow it and see if 
it cannot be made to do something." 

Towards the end of December McClellan fell ill. The 
long-expected advance was out of the question until he re- 
covered. Distracted at this idea, the President for the first 
time asserted himself as commander-in-chief of the forces of 
the United States. Heretofore he had used his military au- 
thority principally in raising men and commissioning offi- 
cers ; campaigns he had left to the generals. It had been to 
be sure largely because of his urgency that the Battle of Bull 
Run had been fought. After Bull Run he had prepared a 
" Memorandum of Military Policy Suggested by the Bull 
Run Defeat," and may have thought the War Department 
was working according to this. When he relieved Fremont 
he had offered his successor a few suggestions but he had 
been careful to add : 

" Knowing how hazardous it is to bind down a distant 
commander in the field to specific lines and operations, as so 



84 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

much always depends on a knowledge of localities and pass- 
ing events, it is intended therefore, to leave a considerable 
margin for the exercise of your judgment and discretion." 

Early in December, weary with waiting for McClellan, he 
had sent him a list of questions concerning the Potomac 
campaign. They were broad hints, but in no sense orders 
and McClellan hardly gave them a second thought. Nicolay 
and Hay say that after keeping them ten days, the General 
returned them with hurried answers in pencil. Certainly he 
was in no degree influenced by them. And this was about 
all the military authority — " interference " some critics 
called it, — that the President had exercised up to the time 
McClellan was shut up by fever. 

Now, however, he undertook to learn direct from the offi- 
cers the condition things were in, and if it was not possible 
to get some work out of the army somewhere along the line. 
Particularly was he anxious that East Tennessee be relieved. 
The Unionists there were " being hanged and driven to de- 
spair," there was danger of them going over to the South. 
All this the generals knew. Lincoln telegraphed Halleck, 
then in command of the Western Department, and Buell, in 
charge of the forces in Kentucky, asking if they were " in 
concert " and urging a movement which he supposed to have 
been decided upon some time before. The replies he received 
disappointed and distressed him. There seemed to be no 
more idea of advancing in the West than in the East. The 
plans he supposed settled his generals now controverted. He 
could get no promise of action, no precise information. " De- 
lay is ruining us," he wrote to Buell on January 7, " and 
it is indispensable for me to have som.ething definite. And 
yet, convinced though he was that his plans were practica- 
ble, he would not make them into orders. 

" For my own views," he wrote Buell on January 13, "1 
have not offered and do not offer them as orders; and while 



THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 85 

I am glad to have them respectfully considered, I would 
blame you to follow them contrary to your own clear judg- 
ment, unless I should put them in the form of orders. As to 
General McClellan's views, you understand your duty in re- 
gard to them better than I do. With this preliminary, I state 
my general idea of this war to be that we have the greater 
numbers, and the enemy has greater facility of concentrat- 
ing forces upon points of collision ; that we must fail unless 
we can find some way of making our advantage an over- 
match for his; and that this can only be done by menacing 
him with superior forces at different points at the same time, 
so that we can safely attack one or both if he makes no 
change ; and if he weakens one to strengthen the other, for- 
bear to attack the strengthened one, but seize and hold the 
weakened one, gaining so much." 

This hesitancy about exercising his military authority, 
came from Lincoln's consciousness that he knew next to 
nothing of the business of fighting. When he saw that those 
supposed to know something of the science did nothing, he 
resolved to learn the subject himself as thoroughly as he 
could. " He gave himself, night and day, to the study of the 
military situation," say Nicolay and Hay, his secretaries. 
" He read a large number of strategical works. He pored 
over the reports from the various departments and districts 
of the field of war. He held long conferences with eminent 
generals and admirals, and astonished them by the extent of 
his special knowledge and the keen intelligence of his ques- 
tions." 

By the time McClellan was about again, Lincoln had 
learned enough of the situation to convince him that the 
Army of the Potomac could and must advance, and on Janu- 
ary 27, he, for the first time, used his power as comman- 
der-in-chief of the armv, and issued his General War Order 
No. I. 

Ordered, That the 22d day of February, 1862, be the day 
for a general movement of all the land and naval forces of 



86 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

the United States against the insurgent forces. That es- 
pecially the army at and about Fortress Monroe; the Army 
of the Potomac; the Army of Western Virginia; the army 
near Munfordville, Kentucky ; the army and flotilla at Cairo, 
and a naval force in the Gulf of Mexico, be ready to move 
on that day. 

That all other forces, both land and naval, with their re- 
spective commanders, obey existing orders for the time, and 
be ready to obey additional orders when duly given. 

That the heads of departments, and especially the Secre- 
taries of War and of the Navy, with all their subordinates, 
and the general-in-chief, with all other commanders and sub- 
ordinates of land and naval forces, will severally be held to 
their strict and full responsibilities for prompt execution of 
this order. 

Four days later the President issued his first Special ^Var 
Order, applying exclusively to the Army of the Potomac. 

Ordered, That all the disposable force of the Army of the 
Potomac, after providing safely for the defense of Washing- 
ton, be formed into an expedition for the immediate object 
of seizing and occupying a point upon the railroad south- 
westward of what is known as Manassas Junction, all de- 
tails to be in the discretion of the commander-in-chief, and 
the expedition to move before or on the 22d day of Febru- 
ary next. 

For a time after these orders were issued there was gen- 
eral hopefulness in the country. The newspapers that had 
been attacking the President now ])raised him for taking 
hold of the army. " Tt has infused new spirit into every one 
since the President appears to take such an interest in our 
operations," wrote an officer from the West, to the 
" Tribune." 

The hope of an advance in the Fast was short-lived. Mc- 
Clellan \vas not willing to carry out the plan for the cam- 
paign which the President approved. Mr. Lincoln believed 
that tXie Army of the Potomac should move directly across 



THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 87 

Virginia against Richmond, while McClellan contended that 
the safe and brilHant movement was down the Chesapeake, 
up the Rapahannock to Urbana and across land to the York 
river. There was much controversy between the friends 
of the two plans. It ended in the President giving up to his 
general. Of one thing he felt certain, McClellan would 
not work as well on a plan in which he did not believe as 
on one to which he was committed, and as success was what 
Mr. Lincoln wanted he finally consented to the Chesapeake 
route. It brought bitter criticism ui)on him. especially from 
the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War. 
Common sense told men that the direct overland route to 
Richmond was the better. The President, they said, was 
afraid of his general-in-chief. 

While harassed by this inaction and obstinacy of McClel- 
lan's, Mr. Lincoln was plunged into a bitter private sorrow. 
Early in February his two younger boys, Willie and Tad, 
AS they were familiarly known, fell sick. In the tender- 
ness of his nature Mr. Lincoln could never see suffering 
of any kind v.ithout a passionate desire to relieve it. Es- 
pecially was he moved by the distress of a child. Indeed his 
love for children had already become familiar to the whole 
public by the touching little stories which visitors had 
brought away from the White House and which crept into 
the newspapers: 

" At the reception Saturday afternoon, at the President's 
house," wrote a correspondent of the " Independent." 
" many persons noticed three little girls, poorly dressed, the 
children of some mechanic or laboring man, who had fol- 
lowed the visitors into the White House to gratify their cu- 
riosity. They passed around from room to room, and were 
hastening through the reception room, with some trepida- 
tion, when the President called to them, * Little girls, are you 
going to pass me without shaking hands? ' Then he bent his 
tall, awkward form down, and shook each little girl warmly 



88 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

by the hand. Everybody in the apartment was spellbound by 
the incident, so simple in itself." 

Many men and women now living who were children in 
Washington at this time recall the President's gentleness to 
them. Mr. Frank P. Blair of Chicago, says : 

During the war my grandfather, Francis P. Blair, Sr., 
lived at Silver Springs, north of Washington, seven miles 
from the White House. It was a magnificent place of four 
or five hundred acres, with an extensive lawn in the rear of 
the house. The grandchildren gathered there frequently. 
There were eight or ten of us, our ages ranging from eight 
to twelve years. Although I was but seven or eight years of 
age, Mr. Lincoln's visits were of such importance to us boys 
as to leave a clear impression on my memory. He drove out 
to the place quite frequently. We boys, for hours at a time, 
played " town ball " on the vast lawn, and Mr. Lincoln would 
join ardently in the sport. I remember vividly how he ran 
with the children ; how long were his strides, and how far 
his coat-tails stuck out behind, and how we tried to hit bin", 
with the ball, as he ran the bases. He entered into the spirit 
of the play as completely as any of us, and we invariably 
hailed his coming with (lelight. 

The protecting synipathy and tenderness the President ex- 
tended to all children became a passionate affection for his 
own. Willie and Tad had always been privileged beings at 
the White House, and their jiranks and companionship un- 
doubtedly did much to relieve the tremendous strain the 
President was suffering. Many visitors who saw him with 
the lads at this period have recorded their impressions : — 
how keenly he enjoyed the children ; how indulgent and af- 
fectionate he was with them. Again and again he related 
their sayings, sometimes even to grave delegations. Thus 
Moncure Conway tells of going to see the President with a 
commission which wanted to " talk over the situation." The 
President met them, lau^-hing- like a boy. The White House 



THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 89 

was in a state of feverish excitement, he said; one of his 
boys had come in that morning to tell him that the cat had 
kittens, and now the other had just announced that the dog 
had puppies. 

When both the children fell ill ; when he saw them suffer- 
ing, and when it became evident, as it finally did, that Willie, 
the elder of the two, would die, the President's anguish 
was intense. He would slip away from visitors and Cabinet 
at every opportunity, to go to the sick room, and during the 
last four or five days of Willie's life, when the child was suf- 
fering terribly and lay in an unbroken delirium, Mr. Lincoln 
shared with the nurse the nightly vigils at the bedside. When 
Willie finally died, on February 20, the President was so 
prostrated that it was feared by many of his friends that he 
would succumb entirely to his grief. Many public duties he 
undoubtedly did neglect. Indeed, a month after Willie's 
death, we find him apologizing for delay to answer a letter 
because of a " domestic affliction." 

If one consults the records of the day, however, it is evi- 
dent that Mr. Lincoln did try to attend to public duties even 
in the worst of this trial. Only two days after the funeral, 
on February 23, he held a Cabinet meeting, and the day fol- 
lowing that, a correspondent wrote to the New York 
" Evening Post : " 

Mr. Lincoln seems to have entirely recovered his health, 
and is again at his ordinary duties, spending, not infre- 
quently, eighteen out of the twenty-four hours upon the af- 
fairs of the nation. He is frequently called up three and four 
times in a night to receive important messages from the 
West. Since his late bereavement he looks sad and care- 
worn, but is in very good health again. 

There is ample evidence that in this crushing grief the 
President sought earnestly to find what consolation the 
Christian religion might have fo«- him. It was the first ex- 



90 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

perience of his life, so far as we know, which drove him to 
look outside of his own mind and heart for help to endure a 
personal grief. It was the first time in his life when he had 
not been sufficient for his own experience. Religion up to 
this time had been an intellectual interest. The 
Christian dogma had been taught him as a child 
and all his life he had been accustomed to hearing 
every phase of human conduct and experience tested 
by the precepts of the Bible as they were in- 
terpreted by the more or less illiterate church of the West. 
For a short period of his life when he was about twenty-five 
years of age, it is certain that he revolted against the Chris- 
tian system, and even went so far as to prepare a pamphlet 
against it. The manuscript of this work was destroyed by 
his friend, Samuel Hill. This period of doubt passed, and 
though there is nothing to show that Mr. Lincoln returned 
to the literal interpretation of Christianity which he had 
been taught, and though he never joined any religious sect, 
it is certain that he regarded the Bible and the church with 
deep reverence. He was a regular attendant upon religious 
services, and one has only to read his letters and speeches to 
realize that his literary style and his moral point of view 
were both formed by the Bible. 

It was after his election to the presidency that we begin 
to find evidences that Mr. Lincoln held to the belief that 
the affairs of men are in the keeping of a DivJne Being who 
hears and answers prayer and who is to be trusted to bring 
about the final triumph of the righ.t. He publicly arknow- 
'edged such a faith when he bade his Springfield friends 
good-by in February, 1861. In his first inaugural address, 
he told the country that the difficulty between North and 
South could be adjusted In " the best way," by " intelli- 
gence, patriotism, Christianity and a firm reliance on Him 
who has never vet forsaken this favored Kiid." When he 



THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 91 

was obliged to summon a Congress to provide means for a 
civil war. he started them forth on their duties with the 
words, " Let us renew our trust in God, and go forward 
without fear and with manly hearts." In August, 1861, he 
issued a proclamation for a National Fast Day which is most 
impressive for its reverential spirit : 

" Whereas it is fit and becoming in all people, at all times, 
to acknowledge and revere the supreme government of God; 
to bow in humble submission to His chastisements; to con- 
fess and deplore their sins and transgressions, in the full con- 
viction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom ; 
and to pray with all fervency and contrition for the pardon 
of their past offenses, and for a blessing upon their present 
and prospective action : 

"And whereas when our own bel(^ved country, once, by the 
blessing of God, united, prosperous, and happy, is now 
afflicted with faction and civil war, it is peculiarly fit for us 
to recognize the hand of God in this terrible visitation, and 
in sorrowful remembrance of our own faults and crimes as a 
nation, and as individuals, to humble ourselves before Him 
and to pray for His mercy — to pray that we may be spared 
further punishment, though most justly deserved ; that our 
arms may be blessed and made effectual for the re-establish- 
ment of law, order, and peace throughout the wide extent of 
our country; and that the inestimable boon of civil and reli- 
gious lil)erty, earned under His guidance and blessing by the 
labors and sufferings of our fathers, may be restored in all 
its original excellence." 

But it is not until after the death of his son that we begin 
to find evidence that Mr. Lincoln was making a personal test 
of Christianity. Broken by his anxiety for the country, 
wounded nigh to death by his kiss, he felt that he must have 
a support outside of himself; that from some source he nuist 
draw new courage. Could he find the help he needed in the 
Christian faith? From this time on he was seen often with 
the Bible in his hand, and he is known to have j)raved fre- 



92 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

quently. His personal relation to God occupied his mind 
much. He was deeply concerned to know, as he told a visit- 
ing delegation once, not whether the Lord was on his side, 
but whether he was on the Lord's side. Henceforth, one of 
the most real influences in Abraham Lincoln's life and con- 
duct is his dependence upon a personal God. 



CHAPTER XXV 

LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 

The 22d of February was the day that the President had 
set for an advance of the army but it was evident to both 
the Administration and the country that the Army of the 
Potomac would not be ready to move then. Nor could any- 
body find from McClellan when he would move. The mut- 
tering of the country began again. Committee after com- 
mittee waited on the Presideut. He did his best to assure 
them that he was doing all he could. He pointed out to them 
how time and patience, as well as men and money, were 
needed in war, and he argued that, above all, he must not 
be interfered with. It was at this time that he used his strik- 
ing illustration of Blondin. Some gentlemen from the West 
called at the White House one day, excited and troubled 
about some of the commissions or omissions of the Admin- 
istration. The President heard them patiently, and then 
replied :" Gentlemen, suppose all the property you were worth 
was in gold and you had put it in the hands of Blondin, to 
carry across the Niagara river on a rope. Would you 
shake the cable or keep shouting at him, ' Blondin. stand up a 
little straighter — Blondin, stoop a little more — go a little 
faster — lean a little more to the north — lean a little more to 
the south ? ' No, you would hold your breath as well as your 
tongue, and keep your hands off until he was safe over. The 
Government is carrying an enormous weight. Untold treas- 
ures are in their hands; they are doing the very best they 
can. Don't badger them. Keep silence, and we w^ill get you 

safe across." 

93 



94 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

One of the most insistent of the many bodies which beset 
him was the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the 
War, appointed the December before. Aggressive and pa- 
triotic, these gentlemen were determined the army should 
move. But it was not until March that they became 
convinced that anything M^ould be done. One day early in 
that month, Senator Chandler, of Michigan, a member of 
the committee, met George W. Julian. He was in high 
glee. " Old Abe is mad," he said to Julian, " and the war 
will now go on." 

Whether it would or not remained to be seen but it was 
soon evident to everybody that the President was going to 
make another effort to have it go on for on March 8 he is- 
sued General War Orders Nos. II and III, the first dividing 
the Army of the Potomac into four army corps and the 
second directing that the move against Richmond by the way 
of the Chesapeake bay should begin as early as the i8th of 
March and that the general-in-chief should be responsible 
for its moving as early as that day. In this order Lincoln 
made the important stipulation that General McClellan 
should make no change of base without leaving in and about 
Washington a force sufficient to guarantee its safety. 

When Lincoln issued the above orders which were finally 
to drive McClellan from his quarters around Washington, 
the vv'ar against the South had been going on for nearly a 
year. In that time the North had succeeded in gathering 
and equipping an army of about 630,000 men, but this army 
had not so far materially changed the line of hostilities be- 
tween the North and South, save in the West, where Ken- 
tucky and Northern Missouri had been cleared of most of 
the Confederates. A navy had been collected but beyond es- 
tablishing a partial blockade of the ports of the Confederacy 
it had done little. The ineffectiveness of the great effort the 
North had made was charged naturally to the inefficiency of 



LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 95 

the Administration. Mr. Lincoln was ignorant and weak, 
men said, else he would have found generals who would have 
won victories. A large part of the North, the anti-slavery 
element, bitterly denounced him, because he had taken no 
action as yet in regard to slavery. They would have 
him employ the slaves in the armies, free those which 
escaped. 

Lincoln understood clearly how strong a weapon against 
the South the arming and emaicipating of the slaves might 
be, but he did not want to use it. Throughout his entire po- 
litical life he had disclaimed any desire to meddle with slav- 
ery in the States where the Constitution recognized it. He 
had undertaken the war not to free men but to preserve the 
Union. Moreover he feared that the least interference with 
slavery would drive from him those States lying between 
the North and South, which believed in the institution and 
yet were for the Union. 

Already they had given him much substantial aid. He 
hoped to win them entirely to the North. Emancipation 
would surely make that hope vain. It was largely because 
he wished to keep their support that when as had happened 
twice already in his year of service, prominent subordinates 
had attempted to help the Northern cause by measures af- 
fecting slavery, he had promptly annulled their orders. 

Yet now for many weeks he had been coming to the con- 
clusion that he must do something with this weapon. He 
must do it to throw confusion into the South, with whom so 
far the military advantage lay, to win sympathy from 
Europe, which, exasperated by the suffering which the fail- 
ure to get cotton caused the people, was threatening to re- 
cognize the Southern Confederacy as an independent nation, 
above all to disarm the enemy in his rear — the dissatisfied 
faction of his own supporters who were beginning to 
threaten that if he did not free and arm the slaves he could 



g6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

get his hands on, they would stop the arms and money they 
were sending him to carry on the war. 

All through the fall of 1861 he was examining this 
weapon of emancipation, much as a man in a desperate situa- 
tion might a dagger which he did not want to unsheath, but 
feared he might be forced to. He was seeking a way to use 
it, if the time came when he must, that would accomplish all 
the ends he had in view and still would not drive the Border 
States from the Union. The plan upon which he finally set- 
tled was a simple and just, though impracticable one — he 
would ask Congress to set aside money gradually to buy and 
free the negroes in those States that could be persuaded to 
give up the institution of slavery. Having freed the slaves, 
he proposed that Congress should colonize them in territoi y 
bought for the purpose. 

According to Charles Sumner, Mr. Lincoln had this plan 
of compensated emancipation well developed by December 
I, 1 86 1. The Senator reached Washington on that day, and 
went in the evening to call on the President. Together they 
talked over the annual message, which was to be sent to Con- 
gress on the 3d. Mr. Sumner was disappointed that it said 
nothing about emancipation. He had been speaking in 
Massachusetts on " Emancii^ation our Best Weapon," and 
he ardently desired that the President use the weapon. The 
President explained the plan he had developed, and Mr. 
Sumner urged that it be presented at once. Mr. Lincoln de- 
clined to agree to this, but as he rose to say good-by to his 
visitor, he remarked : 

" Well, Mr. Sumner, the only difference between you and 
me on this subject is a difference of a month or six weeks in 
time." 

" Mr. President," said Mr. Sumner, " if that is the only 
difference between us, I will not say another word to you 
about it till the long-set time you name has passed by." 

" Nor should I have done so." continues Sumner in telling 



LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 97 

the story, " but about a fortnight after, when I was with him, 
he introduced the subject himself, asked my opinion on some 
details of his plan, and told me where it labored his mind. 
At that time he had the hope that some one of the Border 
States, Delaware, perhaps, if nothing better could be got, 
might be brought to make a proposition which could be made 
use of as the initiation to hitch the whole thing to. * He 
was in correspondence with some persons at a distance with 
this view, but he did not consult a person in Washington, 
excepting Mr. Chase and Mr. Blair, and myself. Seward 
knew nothing about it." 

Sumner could not keep still, after this, about the plan. Al- 
most every time he saw Lincoln he put in a word. Thus, 
when the Trent affair was up, he took occasion to read 
the President a little lecture : 

" Now, Mr. President," he said, " if you had done your 
duty earlier in the slavery matter, you would not have this 
trouble on you. Now you have no friends, or the country 
has none, because it has no policy upon slavery. The country 
has no friends in Europe, excepting isolated persons. Eng- 
land is not a friend. France is not. But if you had 
commenced your policy about slavery, this thing could and 
would have come and gone and would have given you no 
anxiety. 

" E\ery time I saw him I spoke to him about it, and I saw 
him every two or three days. One day I said to him. I re- 
member, ' I w'ant you to make Congress a New Year's 
present of your plan. But he had some reason still for delay. 
He was in correspondence with Kentucky, there was a Mr. 
Speed in Kentucky to whom he was writing; he read me 
one of his letters once, and he thought he should hear from 
there how people would be affected by such a plan.* At one 



*The conversation between IMr. Lincoln and Mr. Sumner here re- 
ported is taken from an unpublished manuscript courteously ptit at my 
disposal by the Rev. Edward Everett Hale. Mr. Hale visited Washine:- 
ton in April, 1862. and called on Mr. Sumner, who entertained him with 
the history of the President's Message on Compensated Emancipation. 
He made the full notes of the story, which are here published. 

(7) 



98 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

time I thought he would send in the message on New Year's 
Day; and 1 said something about what a glorious thing it 
would be. But he stopped mc in a moment; ' Don't say a 
word about that,' he said; ' I know very well that the name 
which is connected with this act will never be forgotten.' 
Well, there was one delay and another, but I always spoke to 
him till one day in January he said sadly that he had been up 
all night with his sick child. 1 was very much touched, and I 
resolved that I would say nothing to the President about this 
or any other business if I could help it till that child was well 
or dead. And I did not. ... I had never said a 
word to him again about it — one morning here, before I had 
breakfast, before I was up indeed, both his secretaries came 
over to say that he wanted to see me as soon as I could see 
him. I dressed at once, and went over. ' I want to read 
you my message,' he said ; ' 1 want to know how you like it. 
I am going to send it in to-day.' " 

It was on the morning of March 6, 1862, that Mr. Lin- 
coln sent for Mr. Sumner to read his message. A few hours 
later, when the Senator reached the Capitol, he went to the 
Senate desk to see if the President had carried out his inten- 
tion. Yes, the document was there. 

As Mr. Sumner's history of the message given to Dr. Hale 
shows, Mr. Lincoln for months quietly prepared the way for 
his plan. One of his most adroit preparatory manoeuvers, 
and one of which Mr. Sumner evidently knew nothing, was 
performed in New York City, through the Hon. Carl Schurz, 
who at that time was the American Minister to Spain.* 

Mr. Schurz, who had gone to Madrid in 1861, had not 
been long there before he concluded that there would be great 
danger of the Southern Confederacy being recognized by 
France and England unless the aspect of the situation was 



*The following accounts of Mr. Schurz's interviews with Mr. Lincoln 
and the plan the two gentlemen arranged for introducing the subject oi 
compensated emancipation to the public was given me by Mr. Schurz 
himself. The manuscript has been corrected by him, and is published 
with his permission. 



LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION Q9 

speedily changed, either by a decisive mihtary success, or 
by some evidence on the part of the Administration that the 
war \Yas to end in the destruction of slavery. If the conflict 
were put on this high moral plane, Mr. Schurz believed the 
sympathy of the people in Europe would be so strong with 
the North that interference in favor of the South would be 
impossible. All of this he wrote to Mr. Seward in Septem- 
ber of 1 86 1, but he received nu reply to his letter other than a 
formal acknowledgment. 

After a little time, Mr. Schurz wrote to Mr. Lincoln, say- 
ing that he wanted to come to Washington and personally 
represent to the Administration what he conceived to be the 
true nature of public opinion in Europe. Mr. Lincoln wrote 
to him to come, and he arrived in Washington in the last 
week of January, 1862. He went at once to the White 
House, where he was received by the President, who listened 
attentively to his arguments, the same he had made by letter 
to Mr. SeAvard. When he had finished his presentation of 
the case, Mr. Lincoln said that he was inclined to accept that 
view, but that he was not sure that the nublic sentiment of 
the country was ripe for such a policy. It had to be educated 
up to it. Would not Mr. Schurz go to New York an.l 
talk the matter over with their friends, some of whom he 
named ? 

Mr. Schurz assented, and a few days afterwards reported 
to Mr. Lincoln that the organization of an '' Emancipation 
Society," for the purpose of agitating the idea, had been 
started in New York, and that a public meeting would be 
held at the Cooper Union on March 6. 

"Thai's it; that is the very thing," Mr. Lincoln replied. 
" You must make a speech at this meeting. Go home and 
prepare it. When you have got it outlined, bring it to me, 
and I will see what you are going to say." 

Mr. Schurz did so. and in a few days submitted to Mr. 



iOO LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Lincoln the skeleton of his argument on " Emancipation as 
a Peace Measure." 

" That is the right thing to say," the President declared 
after reading it, " And, remember, you may hear from me on 
the same day." 

On March 6 the speech was delivered, as had been ar- 
ranged, before an audience which packed Cooper Union. No 
more logical and eloquent appeal for emancipation w^as made 
in all the war period. The audience received it with repc.tLed 
cheers, and Vv'hen Mr. Schurz sat down " the applause shook 
the hall," if we may believe the reporter of the New York 
" Tribune." Just as the meeting was adjourning, Mr. 
Schurz did hear from Mr. Lincoln, a copy of the message 
given that afternoon to Congress being placed in his hands. 
He at once read it to the audience, which, already thoroughly 
aroused, now broke out again in a " tremendous burst of ap- 
plause." 

The first effect of the message was to unite the radical 
supporters of Mr. Lincoln with the more moderate. " We 
are all brought by the common-sense message," said '' -Har- 
per's Weekly," " upon the same platform. The cannon shot 
against Fort Sumter effected three-fourths of our political 
lines; the President's message has wiped out the remaining 
fourth." But to Mr.' Lincoln's keen disappointment, the 
Border State representatives in Congress let the proposition 
pass in silence. He saw one and another of them but not a 
word did they say of the message. The President stood this 
for four days, then he summoned them to the White House 
to explain his position. 

The talk was long and entirely friendly. The President 
said he did not pretend to disguise his anti-slavery feeling; 
that he thought slavery was wrong, and should continue to 
think so; but that was not the question they had to deal 
with. Slavery existed, and that, too, as well by the act of the 




LINCOLN IN 1861. AGE 52 

From photograph taken at SpriiiKfieW. Illinois, early in l.s()l, by C. S. Germun. and 

owned by Allen Jasper Conant. 



Z.INCOLN AND EMANCIPATION lOI 

North as of the South; and in any scheme to get rid of it, 
the North as well as the South was morally bound to do its 
full and equal share. He thought the institution wrong and 
ought never to have existed ; but yet he recognized the rights 
of propert}'- v'hich had grown out of it, and would respect 
those rights as fully as similar rights in any other property; 
that property can exist, and does legally exist. He thought 
such a law wrong, but the rights of property resulting must 
be respected; he would get rid of the odious law, not by vio- 
lating the right, but by encouraging the proposition, and 
offering inducements to give it up. The representatives as- 
sured Mr. Lincoln before they left that they believed him to 
be " moved by a high patriotism and sincere devotion to the 
happiness and glory of his country; " they promised him to 
" consider respectfully " the suggestions he had made, but 
it must have been evident to the President that they either 
had little sympathy with his plan or that they believed it 
would receive no favor from their constituents. 

Although the message failed to arouse the Border States, 
it did stimulate the anti-slavery party in Congress to com- 
plete several practical measures. Acts of Congress were 
rapidly approved forbidding the army and navy to aid in the 
return of fugitive slaves, recognizing the independence of 
Liberia and Haiti, and completing a treaty with Great Brit- 
ain to suppress slave trading. One of the most interesting of 
the acts which followed close on the message of March 6 
emancipated imniediately all the slaves in the District of 
Columbia. One million dollars was appropriated by Con- 
gress to pay the loyal slaveholders of the District for their 
loss, and $100,000 was set aside to pay the expenses of such 
negroes as desired to emigrate to Haiti or Liberia. 

The Administration was now committed to compensated 
emancipation, but there were man}'' radicals who grew restive 
at the slow working of the measure. They began again to call 



I02 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

for more trenchant use of the weapon in Lincoln's hand 
The commander of the Department of the South, General 
David Hunter, in his zeal, even issued an order declaring: 

Slavery and martial law in a free country are altogether 
incompatible ; the persons in . . « Georgia, Florida, 
and South Carolina heretofore held as slaves^ are therefore 
declared forever free, 

Mr. Lincoln's first knowledge of this proclamation came 
to him through the newspapers. He at once pronounced it 
void. At the same time he made a declaration at which a 
man less courageous, one less confident in his own policy, 
would have hesitated — -a declaration of his intention that no 
one but himself should decide how the weapon in his hand 
was to be used : 

I further make known that, whether it be competent for 
me, as commander-in-chief of the army and navy, to declare 
the slaves of any State or States free, and whether, at any 
time, in any case, it shall have become a necessity indispens- 
able to the maintenance of the government to exercise such 
supposed power, are questions which, under my responsi- 
bility, I reserve to myself, and which I cannot feel justified 
in leaving to the decision of commanders in the field. 

Tt was a public display of a trait of Mr. Lincoln of v/hich 
the country had already several examples. He made his 
own decisions, trusted his own judgment as a final authority. 

In revoking Hunter's order, Mr. Lincoln again appealed 
to the Border States to accept his plan of buying and freeing 
their slaves, and as if to warn them that the unauthorized 
step which Hunter had dared to take might yet be forced 
upon the administration, he said : 

I do not argue — T beseech you to make arguments for 
yourselves. You cannot, if you would, be blind to the signs 
or the times. I beg of you a calm and enlarged considera- 



LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 103 

tion of them, ranging, if it may be, far above personal and 
partizan politics. This proposal makes common cause for a 
common object, casting no reproaches upon any. It acts 
not the Pharisee. The change it contemplates would come 
gently as the dews of heaven, not rending or wrecking any- 
thing. Will you not embrace it? So much good has not 
been done, by one effort, in all past time, as in the provi- 
dence of God it is now your high privilege to do. May 
the vast future not have to lament that you have neglected it. 

The President's treatment of Hunter's order dissatisfied 
many who had been temporarily quieted by the message of 
March 6, Again they besought the President to emanci- 
pate and arm the slaves. The authority and magnitude of 
the demand became such that Mr. Lincoln fairly staggered 
under it. Still he would not yield. He could not give up yet 
his hope of a more peaceful and just system of emancipation. 
But while he could not do what was asked of him, he seems 
to have felt that it was possible that he was wrong, and that 
another man in his place would be able to see the way. In a 
remarkable interview held early in the summer with several 
Pvcpublican senators, among whom was the Honorable 
James Harlan, of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, the President actually 
offered to resign and let Mr. Hamlin, the Vice-President, 
initiate the policy.* 

The senators went to Mr. Lincoln to urge upon him the 
paramount importance of mustering slaves into the Union 
army. They argued that as the war was really to free the 
negro, it was only fair that he should take his part in work- 
ing out his own salvation. Mr, Lincoln listened thought- 
fully to every argument, and then replied : 

Gentlemen, T have put thousands of muskets into the 
hands of loyal citizens of Tennessee, Kentuckv, and Western 

* The account of this interview was given to me by the late Hon. 
James Harlan of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and was corrected by him before 
his death. 



I04 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

North Carolina. They have said they could defend them- 
selves, if they had guns. I have given them the guns. 
Now, these men do not believe in mustering in the negro. 
If I do it, these thousands of muskets will be turned against 
us. We should lose more than we should gain. 

The gentlemen urged other considerations, among them 
that it was not improbable that Europe, which was anti- 
slavery m sentiment, but yet sympathized with the notion 
of a Southern Confederacy, preferring two nations to one 
in this country, would persuade the South to free her slaves 
in consideration of recognition. After they had exhausted 
every argument, Mr. Lincoln answered them. 

" Gentlemen,'*' he said, " I can't do it. I can't see it as 
you do. You may be right, and I may be wrong; but I'll 
tell you what I can do; I can resign in favor of Mr. Hamlin. 
Perhaps Mr. Hamlin could do it." 

The senators, amazed at this proposition, " which," says 
Senator Harlan, " was made with the greatest seriousness, 
and of which not one of us doubted the sincerity," hastened 
to assure the President that they could not consider such a 
step on his part ; that he stood where he could see all around 
the horizon; that he must do what he thought right; that, 
in any event, he must not resign. 

If at this juncture McClellan had given the President a 
successful campaign it is probable that the radicals would 
have been more patient with the m.easure for compensated 
emancipation. The Border States seeing an overthrow of the 
Confederacy imminent might have hastened to avail them- 
selves of it. But McClellan was giving the President little 
but anxiety. He had undertaken the long deferred cam- 
paign against Richmond at the beginning of April, but had 
begun by disobeying the clause of the President's order 
which instructed him to leave enough troops around Wash. 



LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 105 

ington to insure its safety. When he arrived in the Penin- 
sula he began to fortify his position as if he were entering on 
a defensive instead of offensive campaign, and it was only 
after repeated probing by the administration that he ad- 
vanced. Every mile of his route towards Richmond was 
made only after urgent pleas and orders from the President 
and the Secretary of War and bitter complaints and forebod- 
ings on his part. 

Mr. Lincoln's attitude towards his general-in-chief in this 
trying spring of 1862 is a most interesting study. He evi- 
dently had determined to exercise fully his power as com- 
mander-in-chief, to force McClellan mto battle and to compel 
him to carry out the orders which he as chief executive gave. 
Conscious of his ignorance of military matters, and anxious 
to avoid errors, he exhausted every source of information 
on the army and its movements. Secretary Stanton him- 
self did not watch the Army of the Potomac more closely in 
this campaign than did President Lincoln. Indeed, of the 
three rooms occupied by the military telegraph office at the 
War Department, one came to be called the " President's 
room," so much time did he spend there. During a part of 
the war, this room was occupied by Mr. A. B. Chandler, now 
the President of the Postal Telegraph Union. 

" I was alone in this room," says Mr. Chandler, " and 
as few people came there to see me, Mr. Lincoln could be 
alone. He used to say, * I come here to escape my perse- 
cutors. Many people call and say they want to see me for 
only a minute. That means, if I can hear their story and 
grant their request in a minute, it will be enough.' My 
desk was a large one with a flat top, and intended to be occu- 
pied on both sides. Mr. Lincoln ordinarily took the chair 
opposite mine at this desk. Here he would read over the 
telegrams received for the several heads of departments, all 
of which came to this office. It was the oractice to make three 



I06 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

copies of all messages received, to whomsoever addressed. 
One of these was what we called a ' hard copy,' and was 
saved for the records of the War Department; two carbon 
copies were made by stylus, on yellow tissue paper, one for 
Mr. Lincoln and one for Mr. Stanton. Mr. Lincoln's copies 
were kept in what we called the ' President's drawer ' of the 
' cipher desk.' He would come in at any time of the night 
or day, and go at once to this drawer, and take out a file of 
the telegrams, and begin at the top to read them. His posi- 
tion in running over these telegrams was sometimes very 
curious. He had a habit of sitting frequently on the edge of 
his chair, with his right knee dragged down to the floor. 
I remember a curious expression of his when he got to the 
bottom of the new telegrams and began on those that he had 
read before. It was, * Well, I guess I have got down to the 
raisins.' The first two or three times he said this he made 
no explanation, and I did not ask one. But one day, after 
the remark, he looked up under his eyebrows at me w^ith a 
funny twinkle in his eyes, and said, * I used to know a little 
girl out West who sometimes was inclined to eat too much. 
One day she ate a good many more raisins than she ought 
to, and followed them up with a quantity of other goodies. 
It made her very sick. After a time the raisins began to 
come. She gasped and looked at her mother, and said, 
" Well, I will be better now, I guess, for I have got down to 
the raisins." ' 

" Mr. Lincoln frequently wrote telegrams in my office. 
His method of composition was slow and laborious. It was 
evident that he thought out what he was going to say before 
he touched his pen to the paper. He would sit looking out 
of the window, his left elbow on the table, his hand scratch- 
ing his temple, his lips moving, and frequently he spoke 
the sentence aloud or in a half whisper. After he was satis- 
fied that he had the proper expression, he would write it 



LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 107 

out. If one examines the originals of Mr. Lincoln's teic=' 
§^rams and letters, he will find very few erasures and veiy 
little interlining. This was because he had them definitely 
in his mind before writing them. In this he was the exact 
opposite of Mr. Stanton, who wrote with feverish haste, 
often scratching out words, and interlining frequently. 
Sometimes he would seize a sheet which he had filled, and 
impatiently tear it into pieces." 

It is only necessary to examine the letters and telegrams 
Lincoln sent to McClellan in the campaign of 1862 to appre- 
ciate the rare patience and still rarer firmness and common- 
sense with which he was handling his hard military prob- 
lems. As has been said McClellan began his campaign by 
disobeying the order to leave Washington fully guarded. 
The President learning this kept back a corps of the army. 
McClellan protested but Lincoln would not give up the 
force. " Do you really think," he wrote McClellan, " I 
should permit the line from Richmond via Manassas Junction 
to this city to be entirely open, except what resistance could 
be presented by less than 20,000 unorganized troops ? This 
is a question which the country will not allow me to evade." 

When it became evident that McClellan did not intend 
to advance promptly the President made a vigorous protest. 

Once more let me tell you it is indispensable to you that 
you should strike a blow. I am powerless to help this. You 
will do me the justice to remember I always insisted that 
going down the bay in search of a field, instead of fighting 
at or near Manassas, was only shifting and not surmounting 
a difficulty; that we would find the same enemy and the 
same or equal intrenchments at either place. The country 
will not fail to note — is noting now — that the present hesi- 
tation to move upon an intrenched enemy is but the story of 
Manassas repeated. 

I beg to assure you that I have never written yon or 
spoken to you in greater kindness of feeling than now\ nor 



lo8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

with a fuller purpose to sustain you, so far as in my most 
anxious judgment I consistently can; but you must act. 

McClellan did act but with such caution that he consumed 
all of April and most of May in working his way up the 
Peninsula to Richmond. Every move he made was under 
protest that his force was too small and with incessant com- 
plaint that the administration was not supporting him. To- 
wards the end of May when an extra corps, that of Mc- 
Dowell, was on its way to Richmond to co-operate with 
McClellan the administration became alarmed by a threat- 
ened attack on Washington and recalled McDowell. The 
most intelligent military authorities criticise Mr. Lincoln for 
withdrawing this force just as the attack on the Confeder- 
ates was at last to be made. It was an honest enough error 
on the President's part. He believed the capital in danger. 
— He knew too that with 98,000 men present for duty Mc- 
Clellan ought to be able to take care of himself. The gen- 
eral-in-chief, however, regarded this interference with his 
plans as added proof that the President did not intend to 
support him, wished his overthrow, and he sent the bitterest 
complaints to Washington, The President wrote him on 
May 25 full explanations of the situation as he saw it, and 
begged him to go ahead and do his best. 

" If McDowell's force was now beyond our reach." lie 
said, " we should be utterly helpless. Apprehension of some- 
thing like this, and no unwillingness to sustain you, has 
always been my reason for withholding McDowell's force 
from you. Please understand this, and do the best you can 
with the force you have." 

Three days later, after the fighting for Richmond had 
really begun, he telcgra])lie(i him. " T am painfullv impressed 
with the importance of the struggle before you, and shall 
aid you all I can consistently with my view of due regard to 
all points/* 



LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 109 

And through the month following while McClellan was 
engaged in the series of battles by which he hoped to get 
into Richmond the President did sustain him in every way 
he could, sending him troops as he could get them, counsel- 
ling him whenever he saw a weak point, encouraging him 
after every engagement. The result of the campaign was 
disastrous. After working his way to within a few miles 
of Richmond McClellan was forced back to the James 
River, and in a burst of bitter despair he telegraphed tc 
Washington : 

If, at this instant I could dispose of ten thousand fresh 
rnen, I could gain a victory to-morrow. I know that a few 
thousand more men would have changed this battle from 
a defeat to a victory. As it is, the Government must not and 
cannot hold me responsible for the result. I feel too ear- 
nestly to-night; I have seen too many dead and wounded 
comrades to feel otherwise than that the Government has 
not sustained this army. If you do not do so now, the game 
is lost. If I save this army now, I tell you plainly that I owe 
no thanks to you or to any person in Washington. You 
have done your best to sacrifice this army. 

" Save your army at all events," Lincoln replied. " Will 
send re-enforcements as fast as we can. Of course they can- 
not reach you to-day, to-morrow, or next day. I have not 
said you were ungenerous for saying you needed re-enforce- 
ments. I thought you were ungenerous in assuming that I 
did not send them as fast as I could. I feel any misfortune 
to you and your army quite as keenly as you feel it yourself. 
If you have had a drawn battle, or a repulse, it is the price we 
pay for the enemy not being in Washington. We protected 
Washington, and the enemy concentrated on you. Had we 
stripped Washington, he would have been upon us before the 
troops could have gotten to you. Less than a week ago you 
notified us that re-enforcements were leaving Richmond to 
com.e in front of us. It is the nature of the case, and neither 
you nor the Government are to blame. Please tell at once 
the present condition and aspect of things." 



110 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

This was June 28. Mr. Lincoln lioped tliat McClellan 
might yet recover his position, but the developments of the 
next two days showed him the campaign was a failure. It 
was a terrible blow. " When the Peninsula campaign ter- 
minated suddenly at Plarrison's Landing," Mr. Lincoln said 
once to a friend who asked him if he had ever despaired of 
his country, '' I was as nearly inconsolable as I could be 
and live." 

But he neither faltered nor blamed. He bade McClellan 
" find a place of security and wait and rest and repair," 
to maintain his ground if he could but to save his army even 
if he fell back to Fort Monroe. And he went to work to 
bring light into about as black a situation as a President ever 
faced. His first duty was to ask men of the sorrowing and 
angry country. The War Department had felt so certain in 
April when McClellan started on the Peninsula campaign 
that it had force enough to finish the war that recruiting 
had been stopped. Now a new call was made for 300,000 
men for three years. 

In order to learn the situation of the Army of the Poto- 
mac more exactly than he could from McClellan's de- 
spairing and often contradictory letters and telegrams, the 
President himself went to Harrison's Landing in July. The 
first and important result of his visit was that it fixed his 
determination to do something immediately about emancipa- 
tion. He was convinced that he was not going to have any 
military encouragement very soon to offer to his supporters. 
But he must show them some fruits of their efforts, some 
sign that the men and money they were pouring into " Mc- 
Clellan's trap," as it was beginning to be called, were not 
lost; that the new call for 300,000 men just made was not 
to be in vain. There was nothing to do but use emancipa- 
tion in some way as a weapon, and he summoned the repre- 
sentatives of the Border States to the White House on July 



LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION III 

12, and made an earnest, almost passionate, appeal to them 
to consider his proposition of March 6. 

It is doubtful if Mr, Lincoln in all his political career 
ever had a measure more at heart than his scheme for com- 
pensated emancipation. Isaac Arnold, who knew him well, 
says that rarely^ if ever, was he known to manifest such 
solicitude as over this measure. 

" Oh, how I wish the Border States would accept rny 
proposition," he said to Arnold and Owen Lovejoy one 
day; " then you, Lovejoy, and you, Arnold, and all of us 
would not have lived in vain. The labor of your life, Love- 
joy, would be crowned with success. You would live to see 
the end of slavery." 

" Could you have seen the President," wrote Sumner once 
to a friend, " as it was my privilege often — while he was 
considering the great questions on wdiich he has already 
acted- — -the invitation to emancipation in the States, emanci- 
pation in the District of Columbia, and the acknowledg- 
ment of the independence of Haiti and Liberia, even your 
zeal would have been satisfied. 

" His zvhole soul zuas occupied, especially by the first 
proposition, ivliich was peculiarly his oicu. In familiar in- 
tercourse with him, I remember nothing more touching than 
the earnestness and completeness with which he embraced 
this idea. To his mind it was just and beneficent, while it 
promised the sure end of slavery." 

His address to tlie Border States representatives on July 
12 is full of this conviction : 

" I intend no reproach or complaint," he said, " when I as- 
sure you that, in my opinion, if you all had voted for the 
resolution in the gradual-emancipation message of last 
March, the war would now be substantially ended. And the 
plan therein proposed is yet one of tlie most potent and swift 
means of ending it. Let the States which are in rebellion 
see definitely and certainly that in no event will the States 
you represent ever join their proposed confederacy, and they 



112 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

cannot much longer maintain the contest. But you cannot 
divest them of their hope to ultimately have you with them 
so long as you show a determination to perpetuate the in- 
stitution within your own States. Beat them at elections, 
as you have overwhelmingly done, and, nothing daunted, 
they still claim you as their own. You and I know what the 
lever of their power is. Break that lever before their faces, 
and they can shake you no more forever. * * '•'■ If 
the war continues long, as it must if the object be not sooner 
attained, the institution in your States will be extinguished 
by mere friction and abrasion — by the mere incidents of 
the war. It will be gone, and you will have nothing valuable 
in lieu of it. Much of its value is gone already. How much 
better for you and for your people to take the step which at 
once shortens the war and secures substantial compensa- 
tion for that which is sure to be wholly lost in any other 
event j * * * 

" I am pressed with a difficulty not yet mentioned — one 
which threatens division among those who, united, are none 
too strong. An instance of it is known to you. General 
Hunter is an honest man. He was, and I hope still is, my 
friend. I valued him none the less for his agreeing with me 
in the general wish that all men everywhere could be free. 
He proclaimed all men free within certain States, and I re- 
pudiated the proclamation. He expected more good and less 
harm from the measure than I could believe would follow. 
Yet, in repudiating it, I gave dissatisfaction, if not offense, 
to many whose support the country cannot afford to lose. 
And this is not the end of it. The pressure in this direction 
is still upon me, and is increasing. By conceding what I 
now ask, you can relieve me, and, much more, can relieve 
the country, in this important point. * * * Q^■^^ 
common country is in great peril, demanding the loftiest 
views and boldest action to bring it speedy relief. Once re- 
lieved, its form of government is saved to the world, its be- 
loved history and cherished memories are vindicated, and 
its happy future fully assured and rendered inconceivably 
grand. To you, more than to any others, the privilege is 
given to assure that happiness and swell that grandeur, and 
to link your own names therewith forever." 



LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 1 13 

The majority of tlie Border States representatives re- 
jected the President's appeal. Now Mr. Lincohi never came 
to a point in his pubHc career where he (hd not liave a card 
in reserve, and lie never lacked the courage to play it if he 
was forced to. " I must save this government if possible," 
he said, now that his best efforts for compensated emancipa- 
tion were vain. "' What T cannot do, of course I will not do ; 
but it may as well be understood, once for all, that I sb.all 
not surrender this game leaving any available card un- 
played." Just what his " available card " was he hinted to 
Secretary Seward and Secretary Welles the very day after 
his interview with the Border State representatives. He had 
about come to the conclusion, he said, that he must free the 
slaves by proclamation or be himself sul)dued. " It was a 
new departure for the President," writes Welles in his 
Diary, " for until this time, in all our previous interviews 
whenever the question of emancipation or the mitigation of 
slavery had been in any way alluded to, he had been prompt 
and emphatic in denouncing any interference by the General 
Government with the institution." 

It w^as probably very shortly after this that a curious in- 
terview took place between Mr. Lincoln and his old and inti- 
mate friend, Leonard Swett, which shows admirably the 
struggle in the President's mind. The story of this inter- 
view Mr. Swett used to tell often to his friends, and it is 
through the courtesy of one of them, the Hon. Peter Stenger 
Grosscup, United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Ju- 
dicial Circuit, that it is given here : 

One day, during the course of the war, when Mr. Swett 
was at his home in Bloomington, Illinois, he received a tele- 
gram asking him to come immediately to the President. 
The second morning afterwards found him in Washington. 
Thinking that something unusual was at hand, he went to 
the White House upon arrival and before eating his break- 

(8) 



114 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

fast. Mr. Lincoln asked him immediately into the cabinet 
room, and after making a few inquiries about mutual friends 
in Illinois, pulled up his chair to a little cabinet of drawers. 
Swett, of course, awaited in silence the developments. Open- 
ing a drawer, Lincoln took out a manuscript which, he said, 
was a letter from William Lloyd Garrison, and which he 
proceeded to read. It proved to be an eloquent and pas- 
sionate appeal for the immediate emancipation of the slaves. 
It recalled the devotion and loyalty of the North, but pointed 
out, with something like peremptoriness, that unless some 
step was taken to cut out by the roots the institution of slav- 
ery, the expectations of tlie North would be disappointed 
and its ardor correspondingly cooled. It went into the moral 
wrong that lay at the bottom of the war. and insisted that 
the war could not, in the nature of things, be ended until the 
wrong was at an end. The letter throughout was entirely 
characteristic of Garrison. 

Laying it back without comment, Mr. Lincoln took out 
another, which proved to be a letter from Garrett Davis, of 
Kentucky. It, too, treated of emancipation ; but from the 
Border State point of view. It carefully balanced the mar- 
tial and moral forces of the North and South, and pointed 
out that if the Border States, now divided almost equally 
between the belligerents, were thrown unitedly to the South, 
a conclusion of the war favorable to the North would be 
next to impossible. It then proceeded to recall that slavery 
was an institution of these Border States with which their 
people had grown familiar and upon which much of their 
prosperity was founded. Emancipation, especially emanci- 
pation without compensation, would, in that (juarter of the 
country, be looked upon as a stab at prosperity and a depart- 
ure from the original Lhiion purposes of the war. It beg- 
ged Mr. Lincoln to be led by the Northern abolition senti- 
ment into no such irretrievable mistake. 

Laying this back, Mr. Lincoln took out another, which 
turned out to be from a then prominent Swiss statesman, 
a sympathizer with the Northern cause, but whose name I 
cannot recall. It breathed all through an ardent wish that 
the North should succeed. The writer's purpose was to call 
attention to the foreign situation and the importance of pre- 



LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 1 15 

venting foreign intervention. This he summed up as fol- 
lows : The governing classes in England and Napoleon in 
France were favorahle to the success of the Confederacy. 
They were looking for a pretext upon which to base some sort 
of intervention. Anything that, in international law, would 
justify intervention would be (juickly utilized. A situation 
justifying such a pretext must be avoided. The writer then 
pointed out that from the earliest times any interference with 
the enemy's slaves had been regarded as a cruel and improper 
expedient; that emancipation would be represented to 
Europe as an equivalent of inciting slave insurrection; and 
would be seized upon, the writer feared, as a pretext upon 
which forcibly to intervene. The letter went over the whole 
foreign situation, bringing out clearly this phase of the con- 
sequences of emancipation. 

Laying this letter back, the President turned to Mr. Swett, 
and without a word of inquiry, took up himself the subject 
of emancipation, not only in the phases pointed out by the 
letters just read, but every possible phase and consequence 
under which it could be considered. For more than an hour 
he debated the situation, first the one side and then the 
other of every question arising. His manner did not indi- 
cate that he wished to impress his views upon his hearer, 
but rather to weigh and examine them for his own enlight- 
enment in the presence of his hearer. It was an instance of 
stating conclusions aloud, not that they might convince an- 
other, or be combatted by him, but that the speaker miglit see 
for himself how they looked when taken out of the region 
of mere reflection and -embodied in words. The President's 
deliverance was so judicial, and so free fron\ the quality of 
debate, or appearance of a wish to convince, that Mr. Swett 
felt himself to be, not so much a hearer of Lincoln's views, 
as a witness of the President's mental operations. The 
President was simply framing his thought in words, under 
the eye of his friend, that he might clear up his own mind. 

When the President concluded, he asked for no comment, 
and made no inquirv, but rising, expressed his hope that Mr. 
Swett would get home safely, and entrusted to him some 
messages to their mutual friends. The audience thus 
ended. 



Ii6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Mr. Lincoln had, no doubt, determined at this time on 
the Emancipation Proclamation, perhaps had in his drawer, 
with the letters he read to Mr. Swett, the original draft 
which, as he afterwards told Mr. F. B. Carpenter, he pre- 
pared " without consultation with or the knowledge of the 
cabinet." It was on July 22 that, " after much anxious 
thought," he called a cabinet meeting to consider the sub- 
ject. 

" I said to the cabinet," the President told Mr. Carpenter, 
" that I had resolved upon this step, and had not called them 
together to ask their advice, but to lay the subject matter of 
a proclamation before them ; suggestions as to which would 
be in order, after they had heard it read." 

The gist of the proclamation which Mr. Lincoln read to 
the cabinet was that, on the first day of January, 1863, all 
persons held as slaves within any State or States wherein 
the constitutional authority of the United States should not 
then be practically recognized, should " then, thenceforward, 
and forever be free." He called his proclamation " a fit 
and necessary military measure," and prefaced it by declar- 
ing that, upon the next meeting of Congress, he intended to 
recommend a practical plan for giving pecuniary aid to any 
State which by that time had adopted " gradual abolish- 
ment of slavery." 

The cabinet seems to have been bewildered by the sweep- 
ing proposition of the President. Nicolay and Hay quote 
a memorandum of the meeting made by Secretary Stanton, 
in which he says : " The m.easure goes beyond anything I 
have recommended." l\Tr. Lincoln, in his account of the 
meeting given to ]\Tr. Carpenter, says : 

Various suggestions were offered. . . . Noth- 
ing, however, was offered that I had not already fully an- 



iiiusjaaiKiifflp 





From the origiiiiil painting by F. B. Carpenter 

The original was painted in the state dining-room of the White House between February 5 
and August 1, 1S()4, under the eye and with the kindly help of President Linc(;ln. Aeeord- 
ing to a letter of Soc-retary Chase to Mr. Carpenter, "Mr. Lincoln, before reading his manu- 
script of the proclamation, said, in substance: 'I have considered everything that has been 
said to me about the expediency of emancipation, and have made up my mind to issue this 
proclamation, and I have invited you to come together, not to discuss what is to be done, 
but to have you hear what I have written and to get your suggestions about form and style ;' 
adding: 'I have thought it all over, and have made a promise that this should be done to 
myself and to God.'" Secretary Chase adds: "The i)icture well represents that moment 
-^hich followed the reading of the proclamation. It puts the two members who thoroughly 
advised and heartily believed in the measure on the right of Mr. Lincoln ; the others (who, 
though they all ac(juiesced, and Mr. Seward, who, particularly, made important suggestions, 
had hitherto duuljted or advised delay or even opposed) on the left." 



Welle9 



oimiu 
Seward 



Blair 



Bates 




EFORE THE CABINET, SEPTEMBER 20, lS62 

>w in the Capitol at Washington. 

Upon its completion, the painting was exhibited for two days in the East Room of the 
^hite House. After having been exhibited through the country, it was purchased b.\- Mrs. 
Hzabeth Thompson, of New York, and presented to the re-United States, Congress unani- 
iously accepting the gift and voting Mrs. Thompson the "thanks of Congress," the highest 
jnor ever paid a woman in our country, and setting apart Lincohi's birthday, February 12, 
i78, for the acceptance of the painting. On that day both houses of Congress adjourned 
1 honor of the celebration ; the painting was elevated over the chair of the Speaker of the 
ouse of Representatives ; Garfield, then a member of Congress, made the speech of presen- 
ition on behalf of Mrs. Thompson, while the Hon. Alexander Stephens, former vice-presi- 
;nt of the Confederacy, who, in a famous speech at the beginning of the war, had declared. 
Slavery is the cornerstone of the new Confederacy," made the speech accepting, on behalf 
; Congress, this painting which commemorates the abolition of slavery. 



LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 1 17 

ticipated and settled in my ovm mind, until Secretary Sew- 
ard spoke. He said in substance : " Mr. President, I ap- 
prove of the proclamation, but I question the expediency 
of its issue at this juncture. The depression of the public 
mind, consequent upon our repeated reverses, is so great that 
I fear the effect of so important a step. It may be viewed as 
the last measure of an exhausted government, a cry for help ; 
the government stretching forth its hands to Ethiopia, in- 
stead of Ethiopia stretching forth her hands to the govern- 
ment." His idea was that it would be considered our last 
shriek, on the retreat. " Now," continued Mr. Seward, 
" while I approve the measure, I suggest, s'r, that you post- 
pone its issue, initil you can give it to the country, supported 
by military success, instead of issuing it, as would be the 
case now, upon the greatest disasters of the war ! " Th^s 
wisdom of the view of the Secretary of State struck me \vith 
very great force. It was an aspect of the case that, in all my 
thoughts upon the subject, I had entirely overlooked. The 
result was that I put the draft of the proclamation aside, as 
you do your sketch for a picture, waiting for a victory. From 
time to time I added or changed a line, touching it up he/e 
and there, anxiously waiting the progress of events. 

The victory Mr. Lincoln waited for was long in coming. 
Disaster after disaster followed. Each new delay or failure 
only intensified the radical anti-slavery sentiment, and made 
the demand for emancipation more emphatic and threaten- 
ing. The culmination of this dissatisfaction was an editorial 
signed by Horace Greeley, and printed in the New York 
" Tribune " of August 20, entitled, " The Prayer of 20,- 
000,000 " — two columns of bitter and unjust accusations 
and complaints addressed to Mr. Lincoln, charging him with 
" ignoring, disregarding, and defying " the laws already 
enacted against slavery. 

Mr. Lincoln answered it in a letter published in the " Na- 
tional Intelligencer " of Washington. August 2^. The 
document challenges comparison with the State papers of 
all times and all countries for its lucidity and its courage : 



Il8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

" As to the policy I ' seem to be pursuing,' as you say, I 
have not meant to leave any one in doubt. 

" I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest 
way under the Constitution. The sooner the national au- 
thority can be restored, the nearer the Union will be ' the 
Union as it was.' If there be those who would not save the 
Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do 
not agree with them. If there be those who would not save 
the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, 
I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this strug- 
gle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to de- 
stroy slavery. If I could save the LTnion without freeing any 
slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the 
slaves, I would do it ; and if I could save it by freeing some 
and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do 
about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it 
helps to save the Union ; and what I forbear, I forbear be- 
cause I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I 
shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts 
the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing 
more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when 
shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views so fast as 
they shall appear to be true views. 

The " Greeley faction," as it was called, not only pursued 
Mr. Lincoln through the press and pulpit and platform; an 
unending procession of radical committees and delegations 
waited upon him. Although he was at that time, by his own 
statement, adding or changing a line of the proclamation, 
" touching it up here and there," he seems almost invariably 
to have argued against emancipation with those who came to 
plead for it. 

It was only his way of making his own judgment surer. 
He was not only examining every possible reason for eman- 
cipation ; he was steadily seeking reasons against it. Per- 
haps the best illustration preserved to us of this intellectual 
method of Lincoln is his argument to a committee from the 



LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 1 19 

religious denominations of Chicago, who came to him on 
September 13 : 

" What good would a proclamation of emancipation from 
me do, especially as we are now situated? 1 do not want to 
issue a document that the whole world will see must neces- 
sarily be inoperative, like the Pope's bull against the comet. 
Would my word free the slaves, when I cannot even enforce 
the Constitution in the rebel States ? Is there a single court, 
or magistrate, or individual that would be influenced by it 
there? And what reason is there to think it would have 
any greater effect upon the slaves than the late law of Con- 
gress, which I approved, and which offers protection and 
freedom to the slaves of rebel masters who come within our 
lines? Yet I cannot learn that that law has caused a single 
slave to come over to us. And suppose they could be in- 
duced by a proclamation of freedom from me to throw 
themselves upon us, what should we do with them? How 
can we feed and care for such a multitude? * * If wq 
were to arm them, I fear that in a few weeks the arms would 
be in the hands of the rebels ; and, indeed, thus far we have 
not had arms enough to equip our white troops. I will men- 
tion another thing, though it meets only your scorn and 
contempt. There are fifty thousand bayonets in the Union 
armies from the border slave States. It would be a serious 
matter if, in consequence of a proclamation such as you de- 
sire, they should go over to the rebels." 

The letter to Greeley, the passages quoted above, show 
how the President was wrestling with the question. There 
is every indication indeed that an incessant struggle against 
violent emancipation went on in his mind through the whole 
period. He regarded it as the act of a dictator. He feared 
it might be fruitless. He dreaded the injury it would do the 
loyal people of the South. He said once to a friend, that 
he had prayed to the Almighty to save him from the neces- 
sity of it, adopting the very language of Christ, " If it be 
possible, let this cup pas^ from me." In talking to the 



120 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Chicago delegations, who argued that it was God's will that 
he issue a proclamation, he said ; 

" I hope it will not be irreverent for me to say that if it 
is probable that God would reveal His will to others on a 
point so connected with my duty, it might be supposed He 
would reveal it directly to me; for unless I am more de- 
ceived in myself than I often am, it is my earnest desire to 
know the will of Providence in this matter. And if I can 
learn what it is, I will do it. These are not, however, the 
days of miracles, and I suppose it will be granted that I am 
not to expect a direct revelation. I must study the plain 
physical facts of the case, ascertain what is possible, and 
learn what appears to be wise and right." 

The victory for which the President w^aited came on Sep- 
tember 17. McClellan had followed Lee into Maryland, 
and defeated him. The President was at his summer house 
at the Soldier's Home when the news of Antietam reached 
him. He at once finished the second draft of the Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation, and called the cabinet together on Mon- 
day, September 22. Secretary Chase recorded in his diary, 
that day, how, after reading his colleagues a chapter from 
Artemus Ward, the President " took a graver tone." The 
words he spoke, as recorded by Mr. Chase, are a remarkable 
revelation of the man's feelings at the moment : 

I have, as you are aware, thought a great deal about the 
relation of this war to slavery ; and you all remember that, 
several weeks ago, I read to you an order I had prepared on 
this subject, which, on account of objections made by some 
of you, was not issued. Ever since then my mind has been 
much occupied with this subject, and I have thought, all 
along, that the time for acting on it might probably come. 
I think the time has come now. I wish it was a better time. 
I v/ish that we were in a better condition. The action of 
the army against the rebels has not been quite what I should 
have best liked. But they have been driven out of Maryland, 



LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 121 

and Pennsylvania is no longer in danger of invasion. When 
the rebel army was at Frederick, I determined, as soon as 
it should be driven out of Maryland, to issue a proclama- 
tion of emancipation, such as 1 thought m< st likely to be 
useful. I said nothing to any one, but I made the promise 
to myself and [hesitating a little] to my Maker. The rebel 
army is now driven out, and I am going to fulfil that prom- 
ise. I have got you together to hear what I have written 
down. I do not wish your advice about the main matter, for 
that I have determined for myself. This, I say without in- 
tending anything but respect for any one of you. But I al- 
ready know the views of each on this question. They have 
been heretofore expressed, and I have considered them as 
thoroughly and carefully as I can. What I have written is 
that which my reflections have determined me to say. If 
there is anything in the expressions I use, or in any minor 
matter, which any of you thinks had best be changed, I shall 
be glad to receive the suggestions. One other obsei*vation 
I will make. I know very well that many others might, in 
this matter as in others, do better than I can ; and if I was 
satisfied that the public confidence was more fully possessed 
by any one of them than by me, and knew of any constitu- 
tional way in which he could be put in my place, he should 
have it. I would gladly yield it to him. But, though I believe 
that I have not so much of the confidence of the people as I 
had some time since, I do not know that, all things consid- 
ered, any other person has more ; and, however this may be, 
there is no way in which I can have any other man put where 
I am. I am here; I must do the best I can, and bear the re- 
sponsibility of taking the course which I feel I ought to take. 

The proclamation appeared in the newspapers of the fol- 
lowing morning. One substantial addition had been made 
to the document since July 22. It now declared that the 
Government of the United States would " recognize and 
maintain " the freedom of the persons set at liberty. 

There was no exultation in the President's mind ; indeed 
there was almost a groan in the words which, the night 
after he had given it out, he addressed to a party of sere- 



122 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

naders, " I can only trust in God that I have made no 
mistake." The events of the fall brought him little en- 
couragement. Indeed, the promise of emancipation seemed 
to effect nothing but discontent and uneasiness ; stocks went 
down, troops fell off. In five great States — Indiana, Illinois, 
Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York — the elections went 
against him. Little but menaces came from Europe. Many 
said that the President would not dare, in the face of the un- 
rest of the country, fulfil his promise, and issue the procla- 
mation. But when Congress opened on December i, he 
did submit the proclamation, together with the plan for 
compensated emancipation which he had worked out. Over 
one-half of the message, in fact, was given to this plan. 

Mr. Lincoln pleaded with Congress for his measure as 
he had never pleaded before. He argued that it would " end 
the struggle and save the Union forever," that it would 
" cost no blood at all," that Congress could do it if they 
would unite with the executive, that the " good people " 
would respond and support it if appealed to. 

" It is not," he said, " 'Can any of us imagine better?' 
but,' Can we all do better?' Object whatsoever is possible, 
still the question occurs, ' Can we do better ? ' The dogmas 
of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The 
occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with 
the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew 
and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we 
shall save our country. 

" Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this 
Congress and this Administration will be remembered in 
spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignifi- 
cance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through 
which we pass will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to 
the latest generation. We say we are for the L^nion. The 
world will not forq-et that we sav this. We know how to 
save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save 
it. We — even we here — hold the power ^nd bear the re- 



LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 123 

sponsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure free- 
dom to the free — honorable alike in what we give and what 
we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last, 
best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could 
not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just — a way 
which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God 
must forever bless." 

As the 1st of January drew near, many friends of the 
proclamation doubted that Mr. Lincoln would keep his 
promise. Among these was the Rev. Byron Sunderland, 
of Washington, at that time chaplain of the Senate and one 
of the most aggressively loyal ministers in the city. Dr. 
Sunderland feared that there was truth in the rumor that the 
President would withdraw, not issue, the proclamation on 
the 1st of January, and on the Sunday before the New Year 
he preached a sermon on the subject. Mr. Z. S. Robbins, of 
Washington, a friend of Mr. Lincoln, asked Dr. Sunderland 
to go with him to the President and urge him to keep his 
promise. 

" We were ushered into the cabinet room," says Dr. Sun- 
derland, " It was very dim, but one gas-jet burning. As 
we entered, Mr. Lincoln was standing at the farther end of 
the long table which filled the middle of the room. As I 
stood by the door, I am so very short, that I was obliged to 
look up to see the President. Mr. Robbins introduced me, 
and I began at once by saying : ' I have come, Mr. President, 
to anticipate the New Year with my respects, and if I may. 
to say to you a word about the serious condition of this 
country.' 

Go ahead. Doctor,' replied the President ; ' every little 
helps.' But I was too much in earnest to laugh at his sally 
at my smallness. * Mr. President,' I continued, * they say 
that you are not going to keep your promise to give us the 
Emancipation Proclamation ; that it is your intention to 
withdraw it.* 



124 LIFE OF LINCOLIN 

" * Well, Doctor,' said Mr. Lincoln, ' you know Peter was 
going to do it, but when the time came he didn't.' 

" ' Mr. President,' I continued, ' I have been studying 
Peter. He did not deny his Master until after his Master 
rebuked him in the presence of the enemy. You have a mas- 
ter, too, Mr. Lincoln, the American people. Don't deny 
your master until he has rebuked you before all the world.' 

" My earnestness seemed to interest the President, and 
his whole tone changed immediately. ' Sit down, Doctor 
Sunderland,' he said ; ' let us talk.' 

" We seated ourselves in the room, and for a moment the 
President was silent, his elbow resting on the table, his big, 
gnarled hands closed over his forehead. Then looking up 
gravely at me, he began to speak : 

" ' Doctor, if it had been left to you and me, there would 
have been no war. If it had been left to you and me, there 
would have been no cause for this war ; but it was not left to 
us. God has allowed men to make slaves of their fellows. 
He permits this war. He has before Him a strange specta- 
cle. We, on our side, are praying Him to give us victory, 
because we believe we are right ; but those on the other side 
pray Him, too, for victory, believing they are right. What 
must He think of us ? And what is coming from the strug- 
gle? What will be the effect of it all on the whites and on 
the negroes ? ' And then suddenly a ripple of amusement 
broke the solemn tone of his voice. * As for the negroes, 
Doctor, and what is going to become of them : I told Ben 
Wade the other day, that it made me think of a story I read 
in one of my first books, '' rEsop's Fables." It was an old 
edition, and had curious rough wood-cuts, one of which 
showed four white men scrubbing a negro in a potash kettle 
filled with cold water. The text explained that the men 
thought that by scrubbing the negro they might make him 
white. Just about the time they thought they were succeed- 
ing, he took cold and died. Now, I am afraid that by the 
time we get through this war the negro will catch cold and 
die.' 

" The laugh had hardly died away before he resumed his 
grave tone, and for half an hour ho discussed the question of 
emancipation. He stated it in every light, putting his points 



LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 125 

so clearly that each statement was an argument. He showed 
the fullest appreciation of every side. It was like a talk of 
one of the old prophets. And though he did not tell me at 
the end whether the proclamation would be issued or not, I 
went home comforted and uplifted, and I believed in Abra- 
ham Lincoln from that day." 

Mr. Lincoln had no idea of withdrawmg the proclama- 
tion. On December 30, he read the document to his cabi- 
net, and asked the members to take copies home and give 
him their criticisms. The next day at cabinet meeting these 
criticisms and suggestions were presented by the different 
members, Mr. Lincoln took them all to his office, where, 
during that afternoon and the morning of January i, 1863, 
he rewrote the document. He was called from it at eleven 
o'clock to go to the East Room and begin the customary 
New Year's handshaking. It was the middle of the after- 
noon before he was free and back in the executive chamber, 
where the Emancipation Proclamation, which in the inter- 
val had been duly engrossed at the State Department and 
brought to the White House by Secretary Seward and his 
son, was waiting his signature. 

'' They found the President alone in his room," writes 
Frederick Seward. " The broad sheet was spread out be- 
fore him on the cabinet table. Mr. Lincoln dipped his pen in 
the ink, and then, holding it a moment above the paper, 
seemed to hesitate. Looking around, he said : 

" ' I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing 
right, than I do in signing this paper. But I have been re- 
ceiving calls, and shaking hands since nine [eleven?] o'clock 
this morning, till my arm is stiff and numb. Now, this sig- 
natur*^ is one that will be closely examined, ;ind if tliey find 
my hand trembled, they will say "he liad swnic compunc- 
tions." But, any way, it is going to be done! ' 

" So saying, he slowly and carefully wrote his name at the 
bottom of the proclamation." 



126 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

At last the Emancipation Proclamation was a fact. But 
there was little rejoicing in the heart of the man who had 
framed and given it to the world. In issuing it, all he had 
dared hope was that in the long run it would give greater 
gain than loss. He was not confident that this would be so, 
but he was willing to risk it. " Hope and fear and doubt con- 
tended over the new policy in uncertain conflict," he said 
months later. As he had foreseen, dark days followed. 
There were mutinies in the army; there was ridicule; there 
was a long interval of waiting for results. Nothing but the 
greatest care in enforcing the proclamation could make it 
a greater good than evil, and Mr. Lincoln now turned all his 
energies to this new task. '' We are like whalers," he said 
one day, '* who have been long on a chase ; we have at last 
got the harpoon into the monster, but we must now look how 
we steer, or with one ' flop ' of his tail he will send us all into 
eternity." 



CHAPTER XXVI 
Lincoln's search for a general 

The failure of McClellan in the Peninsular Campaign not 
only forced the emancipation proclamation from Lincoln, it 
set him to working- on a fresh set of military problems. The 
most important of these was a search for a competent gen- 
eral-in-chief for the armies of the United States. As has 
already been noted General McClellan had been appointed 
general-ill-chief in July, 1861, after the first battle of Bull 
Run. A few months' experience had demonstrated to the 
Administration that able as McClellan was in forming an 
army and inspiring his soldiers, he lacked the ability to di- 
rect a great concerted movement extending over so long a 
line as that from the Mississippi to the Atlantic. In March 
when he took the field at the head of the Army of the 
Potomac the President relieved him from the command of 
all military departments except that of the Department of 
the Potomac. From March to July, 1862, Lincoln had no 
general-in-chief. He felt so keenly his need of an ex- 
perienced military counsellor that towards the end of June 
he made a hurried and secret visit to General Scott, who 
since he had been superseded by McClellan had been in re- 
tirement. 

One result of his visit to McClellan at Harrison's Landing 
in July was to fix Lincoln's determination to have in Wash- 
ington a general-in-chief of all the armies who could supple- 
ment his own meagre knowledge of military matters, and 
who could aid him in forming judgments. He knew that in 
the campaign against Richmond he had, at more than one 

127 



128 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

critical moment, made decisions which were contrary to Mc- 
Clellan's plans. He knew that McClellan claimed that these 
decisions had caused his failure. He had acted to the best of 
his judgment in every case, but he undoubtedly felt the dan- 
ger in a civilian's taking such a responsibility. He wanted a 
man at his side whom he believed was wiser than he in these 
matters. So far the war had brought out but one man who 
seemed to him at all fit for this work, Major-General H. W. 
Halleck, the commander of the Department of the Missis- 
sippi. On his return to Washington from his visit to AIc- 
Clellan, almost the first act of the President was to summon 
Halleck to Washington as general-in-chief. Halleck was a 
West Point man highly regarded by General Scott, who 
had been appointed to take charge of the Department of the 
West after Fremont's failure there. He had shown such 
vigor in his field in the winter of i86i-'62, that in March, 
when McClellan was relieved of the position of general-in- 
chief, a new department including all the IMississippi region 
west of Knoxville, Tennessee, was given to Halleck. Since 
that time he had succeeded in opening the Mississippi with 
the aid of the gunboats as far south as Memphis. 

Halleck was appointed on July 1 1, and soon after his ar- 
rival in Washington he went to Harrison's Landing to look 
over McClellan's situation. He found McClellan determined 
to make another attack on Richmond after he received re- 
enforcements. Halleck disapproved of the idea. He be- 
lieved that McClellan should return to the Potomac and 
unite with the new army of Virginia which had just been 
formed of the troops around Washington and placed under 
the direction of General John Pope, another product of the 
Mississippi campaign, from whom the President hoped 
great things. 

McClellan persistently fought this ])lan and his removal 
was seriously discussed at this time. The great body of the 



LINCOLN'S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 129 

Kepublican party indeed demanded it. Many did not hesi- 
tate to say that McClellan was a traitor only waiting the 
proper opportunity to surrender his army to the enemy — an 
accusation which never had other foundation than McClel- 
lan's obstinacy and procrastination. Lincohi would not re- 
Heve him. He believed him loyal. He knew that no man 
could be better loved by his soldiers or more capable 
of putting an army into form. He had no one to put 
in his place. There was a political reason, too ; IMcClellan 
was a Democrat. The party took his view of the disastrous 
Peninsular campaign — that Mr. Lincoln had not supported 
him. To remove him was to arouse bitter Democratic oppo- 
sition and so to decrease the support of the Union cause and 
at this juncture to hold as solid a North as possible to the 
war was quite as imperative as to wan a battle. 

Lincoln would not relieve McClellan, but he sanctioned 
the plan for a change of base from the James to the Potomac 
and early in August, McClellan was ordered to move his 
army. He continued to struggle against the movement, be- 
lieving he could, if re-enforced, capture Richmond, and when 
forced to yield he had made the movement with delay and ill- 
humor. The withdrawal of McClellan freed Lee's army, and 
the Confederate general marched quickly northward against 
the Army of Virginia under General Pope. On August 30, 
Lee defeated Pope in the second battle of Bull Run — a de- 
feat scarcely less discouraging to the Federals than the first 
Bull Run had been, and one that caused almost as great a 
panic at Washington. Pope was defeated, the country gener- 
ally believed, because McClellan, who was hardly twenty 
miles away, did not, in spite of orders, do anything to relieve 
him. It seemed to Lincoln that McClellan even wanted Pope 
to fail. The indignation of the Secretary of War and of the 
majority of the members of the cabinet was so great against 
McClellan that a protest against keeping him any longer in 
(9) 



I30 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

command of any force was written by Stanton and signed 
by three of his colleagues. Major A. E. H. Johnson, the pri- 
vate secretary of Stanton, first published this protest in the 
Washington " Evening Star," March i8, 1893. ^^^- John- 
son says that the President thought it unwise to publish the 
document that Mr. Stanton had prepared ; but he consented 
that the following protest should be signed and handed to 
him as a substitute. The understanding of the cabinet mem- 
bers interested was that this revised protest should go to the 
country. Mr. Johnson believes that ]\Ir. Lincoln himself 
wrote this protest ; at all events, he is certain that the Presi- 
dent consented to it. 

The undersigned, who have been honored with your se- 
lection as part of your confidential advisers, deeply im- 
pressed with our great responsibility in the present crisis, do 
but perform a painful duty in declaring to you our deliberate 
opinion that at this time it is not safe to intrust to Major- 
General McClellan the command of any army of the United 
States. And we hold ourselves ready at any time to explain 
to you in detail the reasons upon which this opinion is based. 

In spite of this evident sympathy of Lincoln with the in- 
dignation against McClellan, on September 2 he placed that 
general in command of all the troops around Washington. 
Probably no act of his ever angered the Secretary of War so 
thoroughly. A large part of the North, too, was indignant. 
A general cry went up to the President for a new leader. 

Lincoln only showed again in this determined and bitterly 
criticised action his courage in acting in a crisis according 
to his own judgment. The army under Pope was demoral- 
ized. Washington was. perhaps, in danger. The defeat had 
robbed Pope of confidence. ITalleck, worn out with fatigue 
and anxiety, was beseeching McClellan to come to his 
relief. There was no other general in the army who could 
so quickly " lick the troops into shape," as Lincoln put 



LINCOLN'S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 131 

it, and man the fortifications around the city. He made the 
order, and McClellan entirely justified the President's faith 
in him. He did put the army into form, and was able to fol- 
low at once after Lee, who was making for Maryland and 
Pennsylvania. Overtaking Lee at Antietam, north of the 
Potomac, McClellan defeated him on September 17. But 
to Lincoln's utter despair, he failed to follow up his victory 
and allowed Lee to get back south of the Potomac river; 
nor would he follow him, in spite of Lincoln's reiterated urg- 
ing. It was this failure to move McClellan's army from 
camp that sent Lincoln to visit him early in October. He 
would find out the actual condition of the army; see if, as 
McClellan complained, it lacked " everything " and needed 
rest. He found McClellan with over 100,000 men around 
him ; two days of his visit he spent in the saddle reviewing 
this force. He visited the hospitals, talked with the men, in- 
terviewed the generals, saw everything. \Miat his opinion of 
the ability of the army to do something was, is evident from 
an order sent McClellan the day after he returned to Wash- 
ington : '" The President directs that you cross the Potomac 
and give battle to the enemy or drive him south." This was 
on October 6. A week later, McClellan being still in camp, 
Mr. Lincoln wrote him the following letter : 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, October 13, 1862. 

Major-General McClellan, 

My Dear Sir: You remember my speaking to you of what 
I called your over-cautiousness. Are you not o\-er-cauti()us 
when you assume that you cannot do what the enemy is con- 
stantly doing? Should you not claim to be at least his equal 
in prowess, and act upon the claim? As I understand, you 
telegraphed General Halleck that you cannot subsist your 
army at Winchester unless the railroad from Harper's Ferry 



132 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

to that point be put in working order. But the enemy does 
now subsist his army at Winchester, at a distance nearly twice 
as great from raih'oad transportation as you would have to 
do without the railroad last named. He now wagons from 
Culpepper Court House, which is just about twice as far as 
you would have to do from Harper's Ferry. He is certainly 
not more than half as well provided with wagons as you are. 
I certainly should be pleased for you to have the advantage 
of the railroad from Harper's Ferry to Winchester, but it 
wastes all the remainder of autumn to give it to you, and, in 
fact, ignores the question of time, which cannot and must 
not be ignored. Again, one of the standard maxims of war, 
as you know, is to " operate upon the enemy's communica- 
tions as much as possible without exposing your own." You 
seem to act as if this applies against you, but cannot apply in 
your favor. Change positions with the enemy, and think 
you not he would break your communication with Richmond 
within the next twenty- four hours? . 

If he should move northward, I would follow him closely, 
holding his communications. If he should prevent our seiz- 
ing his communications, and move toward Richmond, I 
would press closely to him, fight him, if a favorable opportu- 
nity should present, and at least try to beat him to Richmond 
on the inside track. I say " try; " if we never try, we shall 
never succeed. If he makes a stand at Winchester, moving 
neither north nor south, I would fight him there, on the idea 
that if we cannot beat him when he bears the wastage of 
coming to us, we never can when we bear the wastage of 
going to him. This proposition is a simple truth, and is too 
important to be lost sight of for a moment. In coming to 
us he tenders us an advantage which we should not waive. 
We should not so operate as to merely drive him away. As 
we must beat him somewhere or fail finally, we can do it, if 
at all, easier near to us than far away. If we cannot beat the 
enemy where lie now is. we never can, he again being within 
the intrenchments of Richmond. 

This patient, sensible letter had no effect on McClellan. 
Now, forbearing as Lincoln was as a rule, he could lose his 
patience in a way which it does one good to se€. He lost it a 



LINCOLN'S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL I33 

few days later, when McClellan gave as a reason for Inaction 
that his cavalry horses had sore tongues. 

" I have just read your dispatch about sore-tongued aiid 
fatigued horses," Lincoln telegraphed. " Will you pardon 
rne for asking what the horses of your army have done since 
the battle of Antietam that fatigues anything ? " 

Yet even for this telegram he half apologized two days 
later : 

Most certainly I intend no injustice to any, and if I have 
done any I deeply regret it. To be told, after more than five 
weeks' total inaction of the army, and during which period 
we have sent to the army every fresh horse we possibly 
could, amounting in the whole to 7,918, that the cavalry 
horses were too much fatigued to move, presents a very 
cheerless, almost hopeless, prospect for the future, and it 
may have forced something of impatience in my dispatch. 

On the first day of November, McClellan crossed the Po- 
tomac; but four days later the President, acting on a curious, 
half-superstitious ultimatum which he had laid down for his 
own guidance, removed the General. He had decided, Mr. 
Hay heard him say, that if McClellan permitted Lee to cross 
the Blue Ridge and place himself between Richmond and the 
Army of the Potomac, there would be a change in generals. 
Four days later Lee did this very thing, and Lincoln, un- 
moved by the fact that McClellan had at last begun the 
movement south, kept the compact with himself. 

But who should be asked to take the command of the 
army? There was no man whose achievements made him 
pre-eminent — no one whom the country demanded as it had 
Fremont and McClellan. The choice seemed to be confined 
to the corps commanders of the Army of the Potomac, and 
General Ambrose Burnside was ordered to relieve McClel- 
lan. Lincoln had been watching Burnside closely for many 



134 i-IFE OF LINCOLN 

months. Indeed, he had already twice asked him to take the 
command, but Burnside, believing in McClellan and mis- 
trusting his own fitness, had refused. 

With an anxious heart the President watched the new 
commander as he followed Lee into Virginia and took a po- 
sition north of the Rappahannock, facing Lee, who was now 
at Fredericksburg, on the south of the river. Burnside at 
once made ready for battle and Lincoln wanting as al- 
ways to see with his own eyes the army's condition, went 
down the Potomac on November 27 to Acquia Creek, where 
Burnside met him and explained his plan. The President 
thought it risky and in a letter to Halleck suggested a less 
hazardous substitute. Both Burnside and Halleck objected 
however and the President yielded. 

Burnside began his movement on December 9. During 
the lOth, nth, I2th, and 13th, the President studied intently 
the yellow-tissue telegrams in his drawer at the telegraph 
office, telling where troops were crossing the river and what 
positions had been gained. At half-past four o'clock on the 
morning of the 14th, a message was received saying that the 
troops were all over the river — " loss, 5,000." This meant 
that the final struggle was at hand. About eight o'clock that 
morning, Mr. Lincoln appeared at the telegraph ofifice of the 
War Department in dressing-gown and carpet slippers. Mr. 
Rosewater, the present editor of the Omaha " Bee," was re- 
ceiving messages, and he says that the President did not leave 
the room until night. Secretary Stanton, Major Eckert, and 
Captain Fox were the only other persons present, as he re- 
members. The excitement and suspense were too great for 
any one to eat, and it was not until evening that the Secre- 
tary sent out for food for the watchers. All day the 15th the 
anxiety lasted; then, at a quarter past four o'clock on the 
morning of the 1 6th, came news of a retreat. . " I have 
thought it necessary," telegraphed Burnside from the north 



LINCOLN'S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 135 

of the Rappahannock, " to withdraw the army to this side of 
the river." Slewly the dreadful returns came in — over 
10,000 men dead and wounded, 2,000 more missing. The 
government did its utmost to conceal the disaster, but gradu- 
ally it came out and again the heart-sick country heaped its 
anger on the President. 

Lincoln's faith in Burnside was sorely tried by the battle 
of Fredericksburg. Reports which soon came to him of the 
discouragement of the army, and the disaffection of the 
corps commanders, alarmed him still further, and he refused, 
without Halleck's consent, to allow Burnside to make a new 
movement which the latter had planned. But Halleck de- 
clined, at this critical moment, to accept the responsibilities 
of his position as General-in-Chief and to give a decision. 
Lincoln felt his desertion deeply. 

" If in such a difficulty as this," he wrote Halleck, " you 
do not help, you fail me precisely in the point for which I 
sought your assistance. You know what General Burnside's 
plan is, and it is my wish that you go with him to the ground, 
examine it as far as practicable, confer with the officers, get- 
ting their judgment and ascertaining their temper — in a 
word, gather all the elements for forming a judgment of 
your own, and then tell General Burnside that you do ap- 
prove or that you do not approve his plan. Your military 
skill is useless to me if you will not do this." 

The passing weeks only added to the disorganization of 
the Army of the Potomac, and on January 25 the Presi- 
dent ordered General Joseph Hooker to relieve General 
Burnside. Stanton and Halleck were not satisfied with the 
selection. They wanted the next experiment tried on a 
Western general who was promising well. General W. S. 
Rosecrans. That Lincoln himself saw danger in the ap- 
pointment is evident from the letter he wrote to General 
Hooker : 



136 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

General: I have placed you at the head of the Army of .he 
Potomac. Of course I have done this upon what appear to 
me to be sufficient reasons, and yet I think it best for you to 
know that there are some things in regard to which I am not 
quite satisfied with you. I beheve you to be a brave and skill- 
ful soldier, which of course I like. I also believe you do not 
mix politics with your profession, in which you are right. 
You have confidence in yourself, which is a valuable if not an 
indispensable quality. You are ambitious, which, within rea- 
sonable bounds, does good rather than harm ; but I think that 
during General Burnside's command of the army you have 
taken counsel of your ambition and thwarted him as much as 
you could, in which you did a great wrong to the country, 
and to a most meritorious and honorable brother officer. I 
have heard, in such a way as to believe it, of your recently 
saying that both the army and the government needed a dic- 
tator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I 
have given you the command. Only those generals vv^ho gain 
successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is 
military success, and I will risk the dictatorship. The gov- 
ernment will support you to the utmost of its ability, which 
is neither more nor less than it has done and will do for all 
commanders. I much fear that the spirit which you have 
aided to infuse into the armv. of criticisins: their commander 
and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon 
you. I shall assist you as far as I can to put it down. Neither 
you nor Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any good 
out of an army while such a spirit prevails in it : and now be- 
ware of rashness. Beware of rashness, but with energy and 
sleepless vigilance go forward and give us victories. Yours 
very truly, A. Lincoln. 

Hooker had a manly heart, and the President's words ap- 
pealed to the best that was in him. Noah Brooks tells how 
he heard the General read the letter soon after its receipt. 
" He finished reading it," writes Mr. Brooks, " almost with 
tears in his eyes; and as he folded it and put it back in the 
breast of his coat, he said, ' That is just such a letter as a 
father might write to a son. It is a beautiful letter, and al- 



LINCOLN'S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 1 37 

though I think he was harder on me than I deserved, I will 
say that I love the man who wrote it. ' " 

By the first of April, the Army of the Poton.„.- had been 
put into splendid form by General Hooker. An advance 
against the enemy, still entrenched at Fredericksburg, where 
Burnside had engaged him, was contemplated, but prior to 
the battle a grand review of the troops before the President 
was planned. It was on Saturday, April 4, that Lincohi 
left Washington, by a river steamer, for Hooker's headquar- 
ters at Falmouth, Virginia. A great snow-storm began that 
night, and it was with serious delay and discomfort that the 
review was conducted. Difficult as it was, the President was 
indefatigable in his efforts to see all the army, to talk with 
evtry officer, to shake hands with as many men as possible. 
A strange foreboding seemed to possess him. Hooker's con- 
fident assurance, " I am going straight to Richmond, if I 
live," filled him with dread. " It's about the worst thing I 
have seen since I have been down here," he told Noah 
Brooks, who was one of the party. When he watched the 
splendid column of that vast army of a hundred thousand, 
there was no rejoicing in his face. The defeats of two years, 
the angry clamor of an unhappy North, the dead of a dozen 
battle-fields, seemed written there instead. So haggard was 
his countenance that even the men in the line noticed it. Ira 
Seymour Dodd, in one of his graphic Civil War stories, has 
described this very review, and he tells how he and his com- 
rades were almost awe-stricken by the glimpse they caught 
of the President's face : 

As we neared the reviewing-stand, the tall figure of Lin- 
coln loomed up. He was on horseback, and his severely 
plain, black citizen's dress set him in bold relief against the 
crowd of generals in full uniform grouped behind him. Dis- 
tinguished men were among them ; but we had no eyes save 
for our revered President, the Commander-in-Chief of the 



1 38 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

army, the brother of every soldier, the great leader of a 
nation in its hour of trial. There was no time save for a 
marching- salute ; the occasion called for no cheers. Self-ex- 
amination, not glorification, had brought the army and its 
chief together. But we passed close to him, so that he could 
look into our faces and we into his. 

None of us to our dying day can forget that countenance ! 
From its presence we marched directly onward toward our 
camp, and as soon as " route step " was ordered and the men 
were free to talk, they spoke thus to each other: " Did you 
ever see such a look on any man's face? " " He is bearing 
the burdens of the nation." " It is an awful load ; it is killing 
him." " Yes, that is so ; he is not long for this world ! " 

Concentrated in that one great, strong yet tender face, the 
agony of the life or death struggle of the hour was revealed 
as we had never seen it before. With new understanding we 
knew why we were soldiers. 

A day later Lincoln left the army, but before going he said 
to Hooker and his generals, " Gentlemen, in your next battle 
put in all your men." The next battle occurred on May i, 
2, 3, and 4. Over 37,000 men were left out of the fight, 
and on May 5 the army again withdrew north of the Po- 
tomac. The news of the retreat reached the President soon 
after noon of May 6. 

** About three o'clock in the afternoon," says Noah 
Brooks, " The door opened, and Lincoln came into the room. 
I shall never forget that picture of despair. He held a tele- 
gram in his hand, and as he closed the door and came toward 
us, I mechanically noticed that his face, usually sallow, was 
ashen in hue. The paper on the wall behind him was of the 
tint known as ' French gray,* and even in that moment of 
sorrow and dread expectation I vaguely took in the thought 
that the complexion of the angui'^hed President's visage was 
almost exactly like that of the wall. He gave me the tele- 
gram, and in a voice trembling with emotion, said, * Read it 
• — news from the army.' The despatch was from General 
Butterfield. Hooker's chief of staff, addressed to the War 



LINCOLN'S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 1 39 

Department, and was to the effect that the army had been 
withdrawn from the south side of the Rappahannock, and 
was then ' safely encamped ' in its former position. The ap- 
pearance of the President, as 1 read aloud these fateful 
words, was piteous. Never, as long as I knew him, did he 
seem to be so broken up, so dispirited, and so ghostlike. 
Clasping his hands behind his back, he walked up and down 
the room, saying, ' My God, my God, what will the country 
say ! What will the country say ! ' " 

This consternation was soon m.astered. Lincoln's almost 
superhuman faculty of putting disaster behind him and turn- 
ing his whole force to the needs of the moment came to his 
aid. Ordering a steamer to be ready at the wharf, he sum- 
moned Halleck, and at four o'clock the two men were on 
their way to Hooker's headquarters. The next day, the 
President had the situation in hand, and was planning the 
next move of the Army of the Potomac. 

The country could not rally so quickly from the blow of 
Chancellorsville. From every side came again the despair- 
ing cry, " Abraham Lincoln, give us a man ! " But Lincoln 
had no man of whom he felt surer than he did of Hooker, 
and for two months longer he tried to sustain that General. 
A fundamental difficulty existed, however — what Lincoln 
called a " family quarrel " — an antagonism between Halleck 
and Hooker, which caused constant friction. Since the be- 
ginning of the war, Lincoln had been annoyed, his plans 
thwarted, the cause crippled, by the jealousies and animosi- 
ties of men. So far as possible the President tried to keep out 
of these complications. " I have too many family controver- 
sies, so to speak, already on my hands, to voluntarily, or so 
long as I can avoid it, take up another," he wrote to General 
McClernand once. " You are now doing well — well for the 
country, and well for yourself — much better than you could 
possibly be if engaged in open war with General Halleck." 
But his letters and telegrams show how, in spite of himself, 



I40 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

he was continually running athwart somebody's prejudice of 
dislike. 

The trouble between Halleck and Hooker reached a cli- 
max at a critical moment. On June 3, Lee had slipped from 
his position on the F.^ppahannock and started north. Hooker 
had followed him with great skill. Both armies were well 
north of the Potomac, and a battle was imminent when, on 
June 27, angered by Halleck's refusal of a request, Hooker 
resigned. 

During the days when Hooker was chasing Lee north- 
ward, the President had spent much of his. time in his room 
at the telegraph office. Mr. Chandler, wlio was on duty there, 
relates that one of his most constant inquiries was about the 
Fifth Corps, under General Meade. "Where's Meade?" 
" What's the Fifth Corps doing? " he was asking constantly. 
He had seen, no doubt, that he might be obliged to displace 
Hooker, and was observing the man whom he had in mind 
for the position. At all events, it was Meade whom he now 
ordered to take charge of the army. 

The days following w^ere ones of terrible suspense at 
Washington. The North, panic-stricken by the Southern m- 
vasion, was clamoring at the President for a hundred things. 
Among other demands was a strongly supported one for the 
recall of McClellan. Col. A. K. McClure, of Philadelphia, 
who, among others, urged Lincoln to restore McClellan, 
says in a letter to the writer : 

When Lee's army entered Pennsylvania in June, 1863, 
there was general consternation throughout the State. The 
Army of the Potomac was believed to be very much demor- 
alized by the defeat of Chancellorsville, by want of confi- 
dence in Hooker as commander, and by the apprehension 
that any of the corps commanders, called suddenly to lead 
the army just on the eve of the greatest battle of the war. 
would not inspire the trust of the soldiers. The friends of 
General McClellan believed that he could best defend the 



LINCOLN'S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL I4I 

State. He was admittedly the best organizer in our entire 
army, and preeminently equipped as a defensive officer, and 
they assumed that his restoration to the command would 
bring in immense Democratic support to the Administra- 
tion. 

Lincoln's view of the matter is fully shown by the tele- 
gram which he sent in reply to the one from Colonel Mc- 
Clure urging McClellan's appointment. 

War Department, 
Washington City, June 30, 1863. 

A. K. McClure, Philadelphia : 

Do we gain anything by opening one leak to stop another ? 
Do we gain anything by quieting one clamor merely to open 
another, and probably a larger one? A. Lincoln. 

Three days after his appointment, Meade met Lee at Get- 
tysburg, in Pennsylvania, and after three days of hard fight- 
ing defeated him. During these three terrible days — the 
1st, 2d, and 3d of July — Mr. Lincoln spent most of his time 
in the telegraph office. 

" He read every telegram with the greatest eagerness," 
says Mr. Chandler, " and frequently was so anxious that he 
would rise from his seat and come around and lean over my 
shoulder while I was translating ihe cipher. After the bat- 
tle of Gettysburg, the President urged Meade to pursue Lee 
and engage him before he should cross the Potomac. His 
anxiety seemed as great as it had been during tiie battle 
itself, and now, as then, he walked up and down the floor, 
his face grave and anxious, wringing his hands and showing 
every sign of deep solicitude. As the telegrams came in, he 
traced the positions of the two armies on the map. and 
several times called me up to point out their location, 
seeming to feel the need of talking to some one. Finally, a 
telegram came from Meade saying that under such and such 
circumstances he would engage the enemy at such and surh 



i41 ii^IFE OF LINCOLN 

a time. * Yes/ said the President bitterly, * he will be ready 
to fight a magnificent battle when there is no enemy there to 
fight!'" 

Perhaps Lincoln never had a harder struggle to do what 
he thought to be just than he did after Meade allowed Lee to 
escape across the Potomac. He seems to have entertained 
a suspicion that the General wanted Lee to get away, for in a 
telegram to Simon Cameron, on July 15, he says: "I 
would give much to be relieved of the impression that 
Meade, Couch, Smith, and all, since the battle at Gettysburg, 
have striven only to get Lee over the river without another 
fight." The day before, he wrote Meade a letter in which he 
put frankly all his discontent : 

. . . . My dear General, I do not believe you appreci- 
ate the magnitude of the misfortune involved in Lee's es- 
cape. He was within your easy grasp, and to have closed 
upon him would, in connection with our other late successes, 
have ended the war. As it is, the war wall be prolonged in- 
definitely. If you could not safely attack Lee last Monday, 
how can you possibly do so south of the river, when you can 
take with you very few more than two-thirds of the force 
you then had in hand ? It would be unreasonable to expect 
and I do not expect that you can now effect much. Your 
golden opportunity is gone, and I am distressed immeasur- 
ably because of it. 

I beg you will not consider this a prosecution or persecu- 
tion of yourself. As you had learned that I was dissatisfied, 
I have thought it best to kindly tell you why.* 

He never sent the letter. Thinking it over, in his dispas- 
sionate way, he evidently concluded that it would not repair 
the misfortune and that it might dishearten the General. He 
smothered his regret, and went on patiently and loyally for 
many months in the support of his latest experiment. 

But while in the East the President had been experiment- 



♦Abraham Lincoln. A History. By Nicolay and Hay. 




GRAND REVIEW OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC BY PRESIDENT 
General Joseph Hooker had now been in eommaud of the army since 






»ii 



X^^'N/ 




LINCOLN, AT FALMOUTH, VA., IN APRIL, I S6,^ 

JtiMiiary 25, lSt)3, iiiid liml luniight it iiili) "s. I.ndi.l form 



LINCOLN'S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 143 

ing with men, in the West a man had been painfully and si- 
lently making himself. His name was Ulysses S. Grant. 
The President had known nothing of his coming into the 
army. No political party had demanded him ; indeed he had 
found it difficult at first, West Point graduate though he was 
and great as the need of trained service was, to secure the 
lowest appointment. He had taken what he could get, how- 
ever, and from the start he had always done promptly the 
thing asked of him; more than that, he seemed always to be 
looking for things to do. It was these habits of his that 
brought him at last, in February of 1862, to the command of 
a movement in which Lincoln was deeply interested. This 
was the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, near the 
mouth of the Tennessee river. " Our success or failure at 
Fort Donelson is vastly important, and I beg you to put 
your soul in the effort," Lincoln wrote on February 16 to 
Halleck and Buell, then in command of Missouri and Ten- 
nessee. While the President \\*as writing his letters. Grant, 
in front of Fort Donelson, \vas writing a note to the 
Confederate commander, who had asked for terms of capitu- 
lation : " No terms except unconditional and immediate sur- 
render can be accepted. I propose to move immediately on 
your works." To the harrassed President at Washington 
these words must have been like a war-cry. He had spent 
the winter in a vain effort to inspire his supposed great gen- 
erals with the very spirit breathed in the words and deeds of 
this unknown officer in the West. 

Grant was now made a major-general, and entrusted with 
larger things. He always brought about results ; but in spite 
of this, the President saw there was much opposition to him. 
For a long ])eriod he was in partial disgrace; but Lincoln 
must have noticed that while many other generals, whose 
achievements were less than Grant's, complained loudly ar :' 
incessantly at reprimands — " snubbing." the President 



S44 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

called it — Grant said nothing. He stayed at his post dog- 
gedly, working his way inch by inch down the Mississippi. 

Finally, in July, 1862, when General Halleck v;?s called 
to Washington as General-in-Chief, Grant was put at the 
head of the armies of the West. There was much opposition 
to him. Men came to the President urging his removal. Lin- 
coln shook his head. " I can't spare this man," he said; " he 
fights." Many good people complained that he drank. " Can 
you tell me the kind of whisky? " asked Lincoln, " I should 
like to send a barrel to some of my other generals." 

Nevertheless, the President grew anxious as the months 
went on. The opening of the Mississippi was, after the cap- 
ture of Richmond, the most important task of the war. The 
wrong man there was only second in harm to the wrong man 
on the Potomac. Was Grant a " wrong man? " Little could 
be told from his telegrams and letters. *' General Grant is a 
copious worker and fighter," said Lincoln later, " but he is 
a very meager writer or telegrapher." Finally, the Presi- 
dent and the Secretary of War sent for a brilliant and loyal 
newspaper man, Charles A. Dana, and asked him to go to 
Grant's army, " to act as the eyes of the Government at 
the front," said the President. His real mission was to find 
out for them what kind of a man Grant was. Dana's letters 
soon showed Lincoln that Grant was a general that nothing 
could turn from a purpose. That was enough for the Presi- 
dent. He let him alone, and watched. When, finally, Vicks- 
burg was captured, he wrote him the following letter — it 
may be called his first recognition of the General : 

Washington, July 13, 1863. 
Major-General Grant. 

Rfy Dear General: I do not remember that you and T ever 
met personally. I write this now as a grateful acknowledg- 
ment for the almost inestimable service you have done the 
country. I wish to say a word further. When yot fir:^t 



LINCOLN'S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 145 

reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should do 
what you finally did — march the troops across the neck, run 
ihe batteries with the transports, and thus go below ; and I 
never had any faith, except a general hope that you knew 
better than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedition and the like 
could succeed. When you got below and took Port Gibson, 
Grand Gulf, and vicinity, I thought you should go down the 
river and join General Banks, and when you turned north- 
ward, east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now 
wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were 
right and I was wrong. Yours very truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

Grant was busy with new movements before this letter 
reached him; indeed, as soon as Vicksburg capitulated, he 
had begun getting ready to do something else. So occupied 
was he that he did not even take time to write his plans to 
the Government, asking Mr. Dana to do it for him. 

Three and a half months later, after the Army of the 
Cumberland had been defeated at Chickamauga and had re- 
tired into Chattanooga, Grant was called to its relief. In a 
month the Confederates were driven from their positions 
on the ridges above him and East Tennessee was saved. 
There was no longer in Lincoln's mind a doubt that at last 
he had found the man he wanted. In the winter following, 
'63 and '64, after much discussion Congress revived the 
grade of lieutenant-general in the army purposely for 
Grant's benefit and on February 29, Lincoln nominated the 
general to the rank. He proceeded at once to Washington, 
where on March 9 the President and the General met for the 
first time. What did the President want him to do, Grant 
asked. Take Richmond was the President's reply, could he 
doit? If he had the troops Grant answered. The President 
promised them. Two months later Grant had re-organized 
the Army of the Potomac and had started at its head for the 
final march to Richmond. 
(10) 



CHAPTER XXVII 

LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 

Another serious problem which the faikire of the Penin- 
sular campaign thrust on the President was where to get 
troops for a renewal of the war. When one recalls the eager- 
ness with which men rushed into arms at the opening of the 
Civil war, it seems as if President Lincoln should never have 
had anxiety about filling the ranks of the army. For 
the first year, indeed, it gave him little concern. So promptly 
were the calls of 1861 answered that in the spring of 1862 
an army of 637,126 men was in service. It w'as believed that 
with this force the war could be ended, and in April recruit- 
ing was stopped. It was a grave mistake. Before the end of 
May, the losses and discouragements of the Peninsular cam- 
paign made it necessary to re-enforce the Army of the Poto- 
mac. More men were needed, in fact, all along the line. 
Lincoln saw that, rather than an army of 600,000 men, he 
should have one of a million, and, July 2, he issued a call 
for 300,000 men for three years, and August 4 an order 
was issued for a draft of 300,000 more for nine months. 

By the end of 1862, nearly one and a half million men had 
been enrolled in the army. Nevertheless, the " strength of 
the army " at that time was counted at but 918,000. What 
had become of the half million and more? Nearly 100,000 
of them had been killed or totally disabled on the battlefield ; 
200,000 more, perhaps, had fallen out in the seasoning pro- 
cess. Passed by careless medical examiners, the first five- 
mile march, the first week of camp life, had brought out 
some physical weakness which made soldiering out of the 

T46 



LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 14/ 

question. The rest of the loss was in three-months', six- 
months', or nine-months' men. They had enhsted for these 
short periods, and their terms up, they had left the army. 

Moreover, the President had learned by this time that, 
even when the Secretary of War told him that the " strength 
of the army " was 918,000, it did not by any means follow 
that there were that number of men present for duty. Expe- 
rience had taught him that about one- fourth of the reputed 
'" strength " must be allowed for shrinkage; that is, for men 
in hospitals, men on furloughs, men who had deserted. He 
had learned that this enormous wastage went on steadily. It 
followed that, if the army was to be kept up to the million- 
men mark, recruiting must be as steady as, and in proportion 
to, the shrinkage. 

Recruiting, so easy at the beginning of the war, had be* 
come by 1862 quite a different matter. Patriotism, love of 
adventure, excitement could no longer be counted on to fill 
the ranks. It was plain to the President that hereafter, if 
he was to have the men he needed, military service must be 
compulsory. Nothing could have been devised which would 
have created a louder uproar in the North than the sugges- 
tion of a draft. All through the winter of 1862-63, Congress 
wrangled over the bill ordering it, much of the press in the 
meantime denouncing it as " despotic " and " contrary to 
American institutions." The bill passed, however, and the 
President signed it in March, 1863. At once there was put 
into operation a huge new military machine, the Bureau of 
the Provost-Marshal-General, which had for its business the 
enrollment of all the men in the United States whom the new 
law considered capable of bearing arms and the drafting 
enough of them to fill up the quota assigned to each State. 
This bureau was also to look after deserters. 

A whole series of new problems was thrust on the Presi- 
dent when the Bureau of the Provost-Marshal-Gcneral came 



148 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

into being. The quotas assigned the States led to endless 
disputes between the governors and the War Department; 
the drafts caused riots; an inferior kind of soldier was ob- 
tained by drafting, and deserters increased. Lincoln shirked 
none of these new cares. He was determined that the effi- 
ciency of the war engine should be kept up, and nobody in 
the Government studied more closely how this was to be 
done, or insisted more vigorously on the full execution of 
the law. In assigning the quotas to the different States, cer- 
tain credits were made of men who had enlisted previously. 
Many disputes arose over the credits and assignments, 
some of them most perplexing. Ultimately most of these 
reached the President. The draft bore heavily on districts 
where the percentage of death among the first volunteers had 
been large, and often urgent pleas were made to the Presi- 
dent to release a city or county from the quota assigned. The 
late Joseph Medill, the editor of the Chicago " Tribune," 
once told me how he and certain leading citizens of Chicago 
went to Lincoln to ask that the quota of Cook County be re- 
duced. 

" In 1864, when the call for extra .<oops came, Chicago 
revolted," said Mr. Medill. " She had already sent 22,000 
men up to that time, and was drained. When the new call 
came, there were no young men to go — no aliens except 
what were bought. Tlic citizens held a mass meeting, and 
appointed three persons, of whom I was one, to go to Wash- 
ington and ask Stanton to give Cook County a new enroll- 
ment. I begged off; but the committee insisted, so I went. 
On reaching Washington, we went to Stanton with our 
statement. He refused entirely to give us the desired aid. 
Then we went to Lincoln. ' T cannot do it.' he said, "but I 
will go with you to Stanton and hear the argnnicnts of both 
sides.' So we all went over to the War Dei)artnient t(\gether. 
Stanton and General Frye were there, and they, of course, 
contended that the quota should not be changed. The argu- 
ment went on for some time, and finally was referred *ct Lin- 



LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 149 

coin, who had been sitting silently listening. I shall never 
forget how he suddenly lifted his head and turned on us a 
black and frowning face. 

*' ' Gentlemen,' he said, in a voice full of bitterness, * after 
Boston, Chicago has been the chief instrument in bringing 
this war on the country. The Northwest has opposed the 
South as New England has opposed the South. It is you 
who are largely responsible for making blood flow as it has. 
You called for war until we had it. You called for Emanci- 
pation, and I have given it to you. Whatever you have asked 
you have had. Now you come here begging to be let off 
from the call for men which I have made to carry out the 
war you have demanded. You ought to be ashamed of your- 
selves. I have a right to expect better things of you. Go 
home, and raise your 6,000 extra men. And you, Medill, 
you are acting like a coward. You and your ' Tribune ' have 
had more influence than any paper in the Northwest in mak- 
ing this war. You can influence great masses, and yet you 
cry to be spared at a moment when your cause is suffering. 
Go home and send us those men.' 

" I couldn't say anything. It was the first time I ever was 
whipped, and I didn't have an answer. We all got up and 
went out, and when the door closed, one of my colleagues 
said : ' Well, gentlemen, the old man is right. We ought to 
be ashamed of ourselves. Let us never say anything about 
this, but go home and raise the men.' And we did — 6,000 
men — making 28,000 in the war from a city of 156,000. But 
there might have been crape on every door almost in Chi- 
cago, for every family had lost a son or a husband. I lost two 
brothers. It was hard for the mothers."* 

Severe as Lincoln could be with any disposition to shirk 
what he considered a just and necessary demand, strenu- 
ously as he insisted that the ranks must be kept full, he never 
came to regard the army as a mere machine, never forgot the 
individual men who made it up. Indeed, he was the one man 

* These notes \vere made immediately after an interview given me lay 
Mr. ]\Iedill in June. 1895. They were to be corrected before publication, 
but Air. Medill's death'^ occurred before they were in type, so that the 
account was never seen by him^ 



I50 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

in the Government who, from first to last, was big enough to 
use both his liead and his heart. From the outset, he was the 
personal friend of every soldier he sent to the front, and 
somehow every man seemed to know it. No doubt, it was on 
Lincoln's visits to the camps around Washington, in the 
early days of the war, that the body of the soldiers got this 
idea. They never forgot his friendly hand-clasp, his hearty 
" God bless you," his remonstrance against the youth of 
some fifteen-year-old boy masquerading as twenty, his jocu- 
lar remarks about the height of some soldier towering above 
his own six feet four. When, later, he visited the Army of 
the Potomac on the Rappahannock and at Antietam, these 
impressions of his interest in the personal welfare of the sol- 
diers were renewed. He walked down the long lines of tents 
or huts, noting the attempts at decoration, the housekeep- 
ing conveniences, replying by smiles and nods and sometimes 
with words to the greetings, rough and hearty, which he re- 
ceived. He inquired into every phase of camp life, and the 
men knew it, and said to one another, " He cares for us ; he 
makes us fight, but he cares." 

Reports of scores of cases where he interfered personally 
to secure some favor or right for a soldier found their way to 
the army and gave solid foundation to this impression that 
he was the soldier's friend. From the time of the arrival of 
the first troops in Washington, in April, 1861, the town was 
full of men, all of them wanting to see the President. At 
first they were gay and curious merely, their requests trivial ; 
but later, when the army had settled down to steady fight- 
ing, and Bull Run and the Peninsula and Antietam and 
Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville had cut and scarred and 
aged it. the soldiers who haunted Washington were changed. 
They stumped about on crutches. They sat pale and thir: 
in the parks, empty sleeves pinned to their breasts; they 
came to the White House begging for furloughs to see 



LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 151 

dying parents, for release to support a suffering family. 
No man will ever know how many of these soldiers Abra- 
ham Lincoln helped. Little cards are constantly turning up 
in different parts of the country, treasured by private sol- 
diers, on which he had written some 1)rief note to a proper 
authority, intended to help a man out of a difihculty. Here 
is one: 











s-.y^'^Ci^ •^*-*^ 



Sec. of War, please see thi? Pittsburgli boy. He 
is very young, and I shall be satisfiec' with whatever 
you do with him. A. Lincoln. 

Aug. 21, 1863. 

The "Pittsburgh boy " had enlisted at seventeen. He 
had been ill with a long fever. He wanted a furlough, and 
with a curious trust that anything could be done if he could 
only get to the President, he had slipped into the White 
House, and by chance met Lincoln, who listened to his story 
and gave him this note. 

Many applications reached Lincoln as he passed to and 
from the White House an^l the War Department. One day 
as he crossed the park he was stopped by a negro who told 
him a pitiful story. The President wrote him out a check 
for five dollars. " Pav to colored man with one leg," it 
read. This check is now in the collection of II. II. Ofificee 
of Denver, Colorado. 

A pleasing scene between Lincoln and a soldier once fell 
under the eve of Mr. A. W. Swan of Albu(iuerque, New 



152 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Mexico, on this same path between the White House and the 
War Department : 

" In company with a gentleman, I was on the way to the 
War Department one day. Our way led through a small 
park between the White House and the War Department 
building. As we entered this park we noticed Mr. Lincoln 
just ahead of us, and meeting him a private soldier who was 
evidently in a violent passion, as he was swearing in a high 
key, cursing the Government from the President down. Mr. 
Lincoln paused as he met the irate soldier, and asked him 
what was the matter. ' Matter enough,' was the reply. ' I 
want my money. I have been discharged here, and can't get 
my pay.' Mr. Lincoln asked if he had his papers, saying that 
he used to practice law in a small way and possibly could 
help him. My friend and I stepped behind some convenient 
shrubbery where we could watch the result. Mr. Lincoln 
took the papers from the hands of the crippled soldier, and 
sat down with him at the foot of a convenient tree, where he 
examined them carefully, and writing a line on the back 
told the soldier to take them to Mr. Potts, Chief Clerk of the 
War Department, who would doubtless attend to the matter 
at once. After Mr. Lincoln had left the soldier, we stepped 
out and asked him if he knew whom he had been talking 
with. * Some ugly old fellow who pretends to be a lawyer,' 
was the reply. My companion asked to see the papers, and 
on their being handed to him, pointed to the indorsement 
they had received. This indorsement read : ' Mr, Potts, at- 
tend to this man's case at once and see that he gets his pay. 
A. L.' The initials were too familiar with men in position 
to know them to be ignored. We went with the st^ldier, who 
had just returned from Libby Prison and had been given a 
hospital certificate for discharge, to see Mr. Potts, and be- 
fore the Paymaster's office was closed for the day, he had 
received his discharge and check for the money due him, he 
in the meantime not knowing whether to l)e the more pleased 
or sorry to think he had cursed ' Abe Linci^ln ' to Ins face." 

It was not alone the soldier to whom the President lis- 
tened ; it was also to his wife, his mother, his daughter. 



LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 1 53 



ti 



I remember one morning,'* says Mr. A. B, Chandler, 
** his coming into my office with a distressed expression on 
his face and saying to Major Eckert, ' Eckert, who is that 
woman crying out in the hah ? What is the matter with 
her? ' Eckert said he did not know, but would go and find 
out. He came back soon, and said that it was a woman who 
had come a long distance expecting to go down to the army 
to see her husband, that she had some very important mat- 
ters to consult him about. An order had gone out a short 
time before to allow no women in the army, excei)t in special 
cases. She was bitterly disappointed, and was crying over it. 
Mr. Lincoln sat moodily for a moment after hearing this 
story, and suddenly looking up, said. ' Let's send her down. 
You write the order. Major.' Major Eckert hesitated a mo- 
ment, and said, ' Would it not be better for Colonel Ilardie 
to w^ite the order? ' ' Yes,' said Mr. Lincoln, ' that is better; 
let Hardie write it.' The major went out, and soon returned, 
saying, ' Mr. President, w^ould it not be better in this case to 
let the w^oman's husband come to Washington? ' Air. Lin- 
coln's face lighted up with pleasure. ' Yes, yes,' he said ; 
* let's bring him up.' The or>ier was wa-itten, and the woman 
was told that her husband wouId come to Washington. This 
done, her sorrows seemed lifted from Mr. Lincoln's heart, 
and he sat down to his yellow tissue telegrams with a serene 
face." 

The futility of trying to help all the soldiers who found 
their way to him must have come often to Lincoln's mind. 
" Now, my man, go away, go aivay'^ General Fry overheard 
him say one day to a soldier wdio w^as pleading for tlie Presi- 
dent's interference in his behalf; " I cannot meddle in your 
case. I could as easily bail out the Potomac with a teaspoon 
as attend to all the details of the army." 

The President's relations with individual soldiers were, of 
course, transient. \\^ashington was for the great body of sol- 
diers, whatever their condition, only a half-way house be- 
tween North and South. The only body of soldiers wnth 
which the President had long association was Company K 



154 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

of the 150th Pennsylvania Volunteers. This company, 
raised in Crawford County, in northwestern Pennsylvania, 
reached 'vVashington in the first days of September, 1862. 
September 6, Captain D. V. Derickson of Meadville, Penn- 
sylvania, who was in command of the company, received 
orders to march his men to the Soldiers' Home, to act 
there as a guard to the President, who was occupying a cot- 
tage in the grounds. 

" The next morning after our arrival," says Mr. Derick- 
son, " the President sent a messenger to my quarters, stating 
that he would like to see the captain of the guard at his resi- 
dence. I immediately reported. After an informal intro- 
duction and handshaking, he asked me if I would have any 
objection to riding with him to the city. I replied that it 
would give me much pleasure to do so, when he invited me 
to take a seat in the carriage. On our way to the city, he 
made numerous inquiries, as to my name, where I came 
from, what regiment I belonged to, etc. . . . 

" When we entered the city, Mr. Lincoln said he would 
call at General Halleck's headquarters and get what news 
had been received from the army during the night. I in- 
formed him that General Cullum, chief aid to General Hal- 
leck, was raised in Meadville and that I knew him when I 
was a boy. He replied, ' Then we must see both the gentle- 
men.' When the carriage stopped, he requested me to remain 
seated, and said he would bring the gentlemen down to see 
me. the office being on the second floor. In a short time the 
President came down, followed by the other gentlemen. 
When he introduced them to me, General Cullum recognized 
and seemed pleased to see me. In General Halleck I thought 
I discovered a kind of quizzical look, as much as to say, 
' Isn't this rather a big joke to ask the Commander-in-Chief 
of the Army down to the street to be introduced to a country 
captain?' . . . 

" Supposing that the invitation to ride to the city with the 
President was as much to give him an opportunity tc look 
over and interview the new captain as for any other purpose, 
I did not report the next morning. During ^^ day I was in- 



LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERvS 155 

formed that it was the desire of the President that I should 
breakfast with him and accompany him to the White House 
every morning, and return with him in the evening. This 
duty I entered upon with much pleasure, and was on hand in 
good time next morning; and I continued to perform this 
duty until we moved to the White House in November. It 
was Mr. Lincoln's custom, on account of the pressure of 
business, to breakfast before the other members of the fam-, 
ily were up ; and I usually entered his room at half-past six 
or seven o'clock in the morning, where I often found him 
reading the Bible or some work on the art of war. On my 
entering, he would read aloud and ofifer comments of his 
own as he read. 

" I usually went down to the city at four o'clock and re- 
turned with the President at five. He often carried a small 
portfolio containing papers relating to the business of the 
day, and spent many hours on them in the evening. 
I found Mr. Lincoln to be one of the most kind-hearted and 
pleasant gentlemen that I had ever met. He never spoke un- 
kindly of any one. and always spoke of the rebels as ' those 
Southern gentlemen.' "* 

This kindly relation begun with the captain, the President 
extended to every man of his company. It was their pride 
that he knew every one of them by name. " He always called 
me Joe," I heard a veteran of the guard say, a quaver in his 
voice. He never passed the men on duty without acknowl- 
edging their salute, and often visited their camp. Once in 
passing when the men were at mess, he called out, " That 
coffee smells good, boys; give me a cup." And on another 
occasion he asked for a plate of beans, and sat down on a 
camp-stool and ate them. Mrs. Lincoln frequently visited 
the company with the President, and many and many a gift 
to the White House larder from enthusiastic supporters of 
the Administration was sent to the bovs — now a barrel of 
apple butter, now a quarter of beef. On holidays, Mrs. Lin- 

* Major D. V. Derickson in the Centennial Edition of the Meadville 
" Tribune-Republicai\." 



156 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

coin made it a rule to provide Company K with a turkey 
dinner. 

Late in the fall of 1862, an attempt was made to depose 
the company. Every member of the guard now living can 
quote verbatim the note which the President wrote settling 
the n'atter : 

Executive Mansion, Washington, 

November i, 1862. 

To Whom it May Concern : Captain Derickson, with his 
company, has been for some time keeping guard at my resi- 
dence, now at the Soldiers' Retreat. He and his company 
are very agreeable to me, and while it is deemed proper for 
any guard to remain, none would be more satisfactory than 
Captain Derickson and his company. A. Lincoln. 

Thp welfare of the men, their troubles, escapades, amuse- 
ments, were treated by the President as a kind of family 
matter. He never forgot to ask after the sick, often secured 
a pass or a furlough for some one, and took genuine delight 
in the camp fun. 

" While we were in camp at the Soldiers' Home in the 
fall of 1862." says Mr. C. M. Derickson of Mercer, Penn- 
sylvania, " the boys indulged in various kinds of amuse- 
ment. I think it was the Kepler boys who introduced the 
trained elephant. Two men of about the same size, both in 
a stooped position, were placed one ahead of the other. An 
army blanket was then thrown over them so that it came 
about to their knees, and a trunk, improvised by wrapping 
a piece of a blanket around a small elastic piece of wood, 
was placed in the hands of the front man. Here you have 
your elephant. Ours was taught to get down on his knees, 
stand on one leg. and do various other tricks. While the 
elephant was going through his exercises one evening, the 
President strolled into camp. He was very much amused at 
the wonderful feats the elephant could perfc^rm, and a few 
evenings after he called again and brought a friend with hirn, 



LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 157 

and asked the captain if he would not have the elephant 
brought out again, as he would like to have his friend see 
him perform. Of course it was done, to the great amuse- 
ment of both the President and his friend." 

No doubt much of the President's interest in Company 
K was due to his son Tad. The boy was a great favorite 
with the men, and probably carried to his father many a tale 
of the camp. He considered himself, in fact, no unimportant 
part of the organization, for he wore a uniform, carried a 
lieutenant's commission, often drilled with the men or rode 
on his pony at their head in reviews, and much of the time 
messed with them. One of the odd duties which devolved 
upon Company K was looking after Tad's goats. These 
animals have been given a place in history by Lincoln him- 
self in telegrams to Mrs. Lincoln, duly filed in the records 
of the War Department : '" Tell Tad the goats and father 
are very well, especially the goats," he wired one day ; and 
again. " All well, including Tad's pony and the goats." 
They were privileged beings on the White House lawn, and 
were looked after by the company because of Tad's affection 
for them. They met an untimely end, being burned to death 
in a fire, which destroyed the White House stables, February 
10, 1864. 

The two most harowing consequences of war, the havoc 
of the battlefield and the disease of camp life, from the be- 
ginning to the end of the Civil War, centered in Washing- 
ton. It was the point to which every man disabled in the 
Army of the Potomac must come sooner or later for care or 
to be transferred to the North. After battles, the city 
seemed turned into one great hospital. For days then a 
long, straggling train of mutilated men poured in. They 
came on flat cars or open transports, piled so close together 
that no attendant could pass between them : protected occa- 
sionally from the cold by a blanket which had escaped with 



f50 1-IFE OF LINCOLN 

its owner, or from the snn by green boughs placed in their 
hands or laid over their faces. When Washington was 
reached, all that could be done was to lay them in long rows 
on the wharfs or platforms until ambulances could carry 
them to the hospitals. It is when one considers the numbers 
of wounded in the great Virginia battles that he realizes 
the length and awfulness of the streams which flowed into 
Washington. At Fredericksburg they numbered 9.600; at 
Chancellorsville, 9,762; in the Wilderness, 12,037; at Spott- 
sylvania, 13,416. 

In the early days of the war, Washington was so poorly 
supplied with hospitals that after the first battle of Bull Run 
churches, dwellings, and government buildings were seized 
to place the wounded in, and there were so few nurses that 
the people of Washington had to be called upon. Very rap- 
idly little settlements of board barracks or of white army 
tents multiplied in the open spaces in and around the town, 
quarters for the sick and wounded. Nurses poured in from 
the North. Organizations for relief multiplied. By the 
end of 1862, Mr. Lincoln could scarcely drive or walk in any 
direction about Washington without passing a hospital. 
Even in going to his summer cottage, at the Soldiers' Home, 
the President did not escape the sight of the wounded. The 
rolling hillside was dotted with white hospital tents during 
the entire war. In many places the tents were placed close 
to the road, so as to get more air, the grounds being more 
thickly wooded than they are now. As he drove home, after 
a harrowing day in the White House, the President fre- 
quently looked from his carriage upon the very beds of 
wounded soldiers. 

Every member of the Government, whether he would or 
not; was obliged to give some attention to this side of the 
war. It became a regular feature of a congressman's life 
in those day£ *^ spend every Saturday or Sunday afternoon 



LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 159 

in the hospitals, visiting the wounded men from his district. 
He wrote their letters, brought them news, saw to their 
wants. If he had not done it, his constituents would have 
disposed of him in short order. 

In 1862, Mr. Lincoln called Dr. D. Willard Bliss from the 
field to Washington, to aid in organizing a more perfect 
system of general hospitals in and about the city. One re- 
sult of Dr. Bliss's coming was the building of Armory 
Square Hospital, one of the best conducted institutions ui 
the Civil War. Lincoln gave his personal attention to the 
building of Armory Square, and for a long time met Dr. 
Bliss twice each week to consider the ingenious appliances 
which the latter devised to aid in caring for and treating the 
wounded. Some of these appliances the President paid for 
out of his own pocket. Not infrequently he had some sug- 
gestion to make for the comfort of the place. It was due 
to him that Armory Square became a bower of vine and 
bloom in the summer. " Why don't you plant flower 
seeds?" he asked Dr. Bliss one day. The doctor said he 
would if he had seeds. " I'll order them for you from the 
Agricultural Department," replied the President, and sure 
enough he did ; and thereafter, all through the season, each 
of the long barracks had its own flower bed and vines. 

The President himself visited the hospitals as often as he 
could, visits never forgotten by the men to whom he spoke as 
he passed up and down the wards, shaking hands here, giv- 
ing a cheering word there, making jocular comments every- 
where. There are men still living who tell of a little scene 
they witnessed at Armory Square in 1863. A soldier of the 
140th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, had been 
wounded in the shoulder at the battle of Chaifcellorsville 
and taken to Washington. One day, as he was becoming 
convalescent, a whisper ran down the long row of cots 
that the President was in the building and would soon pas'i 



i6o LIFE OF LINCOLN 

by. Instantly every boy in blue who was able arose, stood 
erect, hands to the side, ready to salute his Commander-in- 
Chief. The Pennsylvanian stood six feet seven inches in his 
stockings. Lincoln was six feet four. As the President ap- 
proached this giant towering above him, he stopped in 
amazement, and casting his eyes from head to foot and from 
foot to head, as if contemplating the immense distance from 
one extremity to the other, he stood for a moment speech- 
less. At length, extending his hand, he exclaimed, '' Hello, 
comrade, do you know when your feet get cold? " 

Lincoln rarely forgot a patient whom he saw a second 
time, and to stubborn cases that remained from month to 
month he gave particular attention. There was in Armory 
Square Hospital for a long time a boy known as " little 
Johnnie." He was hopelessly crippled — doomed to death, 
but cheerful, and a general favorite. Lincoln never failed 
to stop at " little Johnnie's " cot when he went to Armory 
Square, and he frequently sent him fruit and flowers and a 
friendly message through Mrs. Lincoln. 

Of all the incidents told of Lincoln's hospital visits, there 
is nothing more characteristic, better worth preservation, 
than the one following, preserved by Dr. Jerome Walker of 
Brooklyn : 

" Just one week before his assassination. President Lin- 
coln visited the Army of the Potomac, at City Point, Vir- 
ginia, and carefully examined the hospital arrangements of 
the Ninth, Sixth, Fifth, Second, and Sixteenth Corps hospi- 
tals and of the Engineer Corps, there stationed. At that time 
I was an agent of the United States Sanitary Commission 
attached to the Ninth Corps Hospital. Though a boy of 
nineteen years, to me was assigned the duty of escorting the 
President through our department of the hospital system. 
The reader can imagine the pride with which I fulfilled the 
duty, and as we went from tent to tent I could not but note 
his gentleness, his friendly greetings to the sick and 



LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS l6l 

wounded, his quiet humor as he drew comparisons between 
himself and the very tall and very short men with whom 
he came in contact, and his genuine interest in the welfare of 
the soldiers. 

" Finally, after visiting the wards occupied by our invalid 
and convalescing soldiers, we came to three w'ards occupied 
by sick and wounded Southern prisoners. With a feeling 
of patriotic duty, I said, ' Mr. President, you won't want to 
go in there ; they are only rebels/ I will never forget how 
he stopped and gently laid his large hand upon my shoulder 
and quietly answered, ' You mean Confederates.'' And I 
have meant Confederates ever since. 

" There was nothing left for me to do after the Presi- 
dent's remark but to go with him through these three wards ; 
and I could not see but that he was just as kind, his hand- 
shakings just as hearty, his interest just as real for the wel- 
fare of the men, as when he was among our own soldiers. 

" As we returned to headquarters, the President urged 
upon me the importance of caring for them as faithfully as I 
should for our own sick and wounded. When I visited next 
day these three wards, the Southern officers and soldiers 
were full of praise for ' Abe ' Lincoln, as they called him, 
and when a week afterwards the news came of the assassina- 
tion, there was no truer sorrow nor greater indignation any- 
where than was shown by these same Confederates." 

One great cause of sorrow^ to Lincoln throughout the war 
was the necessity of punishing soldiers. Not only did the 
men commit all the crimes common to society, like robbery 
and murder; they were guilty of others peculiar to military 
organization and war, such as desertion, sleeping on post, 
disobedience to orders, bounty jumping, giving informa- 
tion to the enemy. As the army grew larger, desertion be- 
came so common and so disastrous to efficiency that it had 
to be treated with sreat severitv. Lincoln seems to have 
had his attention first called to it seriously when he visited 
McClellan's army in July, 1862, for he wrote to McClellan, 
July 13: 



102 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

My Dear Sir: I am told that over 160,000 men have gone 
into your army on the Peninsula. When I was with you 
the other clay we made out 86,500 remaining, leaving 73,500 
to be accountea for. I believe 23,500 will cover all the killed, 
wounded, and missing in all your battles and skirmishes, 
leaving 50,000 who have left otherwise. Not more than 
5,000 of these have died, leaving 45,000 of your army still 
alive and not with it. I believe half or two-thirds of them 
are fit for duty to-day. Have you any more perfect knowl- 
edge of this than I have? If I am right, and you had these 
men with you, you could go into Richmond in the next three 
days. How can they be got to you, and how can they be 
prevented from getting away in such numbers for the fu- 
ture? • A. Lincoln. 

About the same time, Buell reported 14,000 absentees 
from his army. In the winter of 1862 and 1863 it grew 
worse. General Hooker says that when he took charge of 
the Army of the Potomac in January, 1863, the desertions 
were at the rate of 200 a dav. "I caused a return to be made 
of the absentees of the army," he continues, " and found 
the number to be 2,922 commissioned officers and 81,964 
non-commissioned officers and privates. These were scat- 
tered all over the country, and the majority were absent 
from causes unknown." 

When the Bureau of the Provost-Marshal was established 
in March, 1863, finding and punishing deserters became one 
of its duties. Much of the difficulty was due to the methods 
of recruiting. To stimulate volunteering for long periods, 
the Government began in 1861 to offer bounties. The boun- 
ties offered by the Government were never large, however, 
and were paid in installments, so that no great evil resulted 
from them. Rut later, wlien the quota of each State and dis- 
trict was fixed, and the draft instituted. State and local 
bounties were added to those of the Government. In some 
places the bounties offered aggregated $1,500, a large part 



LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 163 

of which was paid on enhstment. Immediately a new class 
of military criminals sprang up, " bounty-jumpers," men 
who enlisted, drew the bounty, deserted, and reenlisted at 
some other point. 

The law allowed men who had been drafted to send substi- 
tutes, and a new class of speculafors, known as " substitute- 
brokers," appeared. They did a diriving business in procur- 
ing substitutes for drafted men who, for one reason or an- 
other, did not want to go into the war. These recruits were 
frequently of a very poor class, and a large percentage of 
them took the first chance to desert. It is said that, out of 
625 recruits sent to re-enforce one regiment, over 40 per 
cent, deserted on the way. In the general report of the 
Provost-Marshal-General made at the close of the war, the 
aggregate deserting was given at 201,397. 

The result of all this was that the severest penalties were 
enforced for desertion. The President never ceased to ab- 
hor the death penalty for this offense. While he had as little 
sympathy as Stanton himself with the frauds practised and 
never commuted the sentence of a bounty- jumper, as far as 
I have been able to discover, over the great number of sen- 
tences he hesitated. He seemed to see what others ignored, 
the causes which were behind. Many and many a man de- 
serted in the winter of 1862- 1863 because of the Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation. He did not believe the President had the 
right to issue it, and he refused to fight. Lincoln knew, too, 
that the " copperhead " agitation in the North reached 
the army, and that hundreds of men were being urged by 
parents and friends hostile to the Administration to desert. 
His indignation never was against the boy who yielded to 
this influence. 

" Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts," 
he said, ** while I must not touch a hair of a wily agitator 
who induces him to desert? This is none the less injurious 



1 64 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

when effected by getting a father, or brother, or friend into 
a pubhc meeting, and there working upon his feehngs until 
he is persuaded to write the soldier boy that he is fighting in 
a bad cause, for a wicked administration of a contemptible 
government, too weak to arrest and punish him if he shall 
desert. I think that in such a case, to silence the agitator, 
and save the boy, is not only constitutional, but withal a 
great mercy." 

Another cause he never forgot was that mortal homesick- 
ness which so often ate the very heart out of a boy away 
from home for the first time. It filled many a hospital cot 
in the Civil War, and shriveled the nerves and sapped the 
courage until men forgot everything but home, and fled. 
Lincoln seemed to see in a flash the whole army history of 
these cases : the boy enlisting in the thrill of perhaps his first 
great passion; his triumphal march to the field; the long, 
hard months of seasoning; the deadly longing for home 
overtaking him ; a chance to desert taken ; the capture. He 
could not condemn such a boy to death. 

The time Lincoln gave to listening to the intercessions of 
friends in behalf of condemned deserters, the extent of his 
clemency, is graphically shcis^n in the manuscript records 
of the War Department whicn refer to prisoners of war. 
Scores of telegrams are filed there, written out by Lincoln 
himself, inquiring into the reasons for an execution or sus- 
pending it entirely. These telegrams, which have never been 
published, furnish the documentary proof, if any is wanted, 
of the man's great heart, his entire willingness to give him- 
self infinite trouble to prevent an injustice or to soften a 
sorrow. " Suspend execution and forward record for exam-- 
ination," was his usual formula for telegrams of this nature. 
The record would be sent, but after it was in his hands he 
would defer its examination from week to week. Often he 
telegraphed, ** Suspend execution of death sentence until 



LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS ^65 

further orders." " But that does no<- pardon my boy," said a 
father ::o him once. 

" My dear man," said the President, laying his hand on 
his shoulder, " do you suppose / will ever give orders for 
your boy's execution ? " 

In sending these orders for suspension of execution, the 
President frequently went himself personally to the telegraph 
office and watched the operator send them, so afraid was he 
that they might not be forwarded in time. To dozens of the 
orders sent over from the White House by a messenger is 
attached a little note signed by Mr. Lincoln, or by one of his 
secretaries, and directed to Major Eckert, the chief of the 
office: "Major Eckert, please send above despatch," or 
" Will you please hurry off the above? To-morrow is the 
day of execution." Not infrequently he repeated a telegram 
or sent a trailer after it inquiring, " Did you receive my 
despatch suspending sentence of ? " 

Difficulty in tracing a prisoner or in identifying him some- 
times arose. The President only took additional pains. The 
following telegrams are to the point : 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, November 20, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, 
Army of Potomac. 

If there is a man by the name of K under sentence to 

be shot, please suspend execution till further order, and send 
record. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, November 20, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, 
Army of Potomac. 
An intelligent woman in deep distress called tliis morning, 
saying her husband, a lieutenant in the Army of the Poto- 



I66 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

mac, was to be shot next Monday for desertion, and putting 
a letter in my hand, upon which I rehed for particulars, she 
left without mentioning a name or other particular by which 
to identify the case. On opening the letter I found it equally 
vague, having nothing to identify it, except her own signa- 
ture, which seems to be Mrs. A S. K . I could not 

again find her. If you have a case which you think is proba- 
bly the one intended, please apply my despatch of this morn- 
ing to it. A. Lincoln, 

In another case, where the whereabouts of a man who had 
been condemned were unknown, Lincoln telegraphed him- 
self to four different military commanders, ordering suspen- 
sion of the man's sentence. 

The execution of very young soldiers was always hateful 
to him. " I am unwilling for any boy under eighteen to be 
shot," he telegraphed Meade in reference to one prisoner. 
And in suspending another sentence he gave as an excuse, 
" His mother says he is but seventeen." This boy he after- 
ward pardoned " on account of his tender age." 

If a reason for pardoning was not evident, he was willing 
to see if one could not be found : 

S W , private in , writes that he is to 

be shot for desertion on the 6th instant. His own story is 
rather a bad one, and yet he tells it so frankly, that I am 
somewhat interested in him. Has he been a good soldier 
except the desertion? About how old is he? 

A. Lincoln. 

Some of the deserters came very close to his own life. 
The son of more than one old friend was condemned for a 
military ofifense in the war, and in the telegrams is recorded 
Lincoln's treatment of these trying cases. In one of them 
the boy had enlisted in the Southern Army and had been 
taken a prisoner. " Please send him to me by an officer," the 
President telegraphed the military commander having him 
in charge. Four days later he telegraphed to the boy's father: 



LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 167 

Your son — — has just left me with my order to the Sec- 
retary of War to administer to him the oath of allegiance, 
discharge him and send him to you. 

In another case, where the son of a friend was under trial 
for desertion, Lincoln kept himself informed of the trial, 
telegraphing to the general in charge, " He is the son of so 
close a friend that I must not let him be executed." 

And yet, in spite of the evident reluctance which every 
telegram shows to allowing the execution of a death sen- 
tence, there are many which prove that, unless he had what 
he considered a good reason for suspending a sentence, he 
would not do it. The following telegrams are illustrative : 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, November 23, 1863. 

£• P. Evans, 

West Union, Adams County, Ohio. 
Yours to Governor Chase in behalf of J A. W- 



is before me. Can there be a worse case than to desert, and 
with letters persuading others to desert ? I cannot interpose 
without a better showing than you make. When did he de- 
sert? When did he write the letters? A.Lincoln. 

In this case sentence was later suspended " until further 
orders." 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, April 21, 1864. 

Major-General Dix, 
New York. 
Yesterday I was induced to telegraph the officer in mili- 
tary command at Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, Massachu- 
setts, suspending the execution of C C . to be ex- 
ecuted to-morrow for desertion. Just now, on reading your 
order in the case, I telegraphed the same order withdrawing 



168 LIFE OF LINCOLIS 

the suspension, and leaving the case entirely with you. 
man's friends are pressing me, but I refer them to you, m* 
tending to take no further action myself. 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, City, April 25, 1864. 

Major-General Meade, 

Army of Potomac. 

A Mr. Corby brought you a note from me at the foot of 

a petition, I believe, in the case of D , to be executed 

to-day. The record has been examined here, and it shows 
too strong a case for a pardon or commutation, unless there 
is something in the poor man's favor outside of the record, 
which you on the ground may know, but I do not. My note 
to you only means that if you know of any such thing ren- 
dering a suspension of the execution proper, on your own 
judgment, you are at liberty to suspend it. Otherwise I do 
not interfere. A. Lincoln. 

It is curious to note how the President found time to at- 
tend to these cases even on the most anxious days of his ad- 
ministration. On the very day on which he telegraphed to 
James G. Blaine in response to the latter's announcement 
that Maine had gone for the Union, " On behalf of the 
Union, thanks to Maine. Thanks to you personally for 
sending the news," he sent two telegrams suspending sen- 
tences. Such telegrams were sent on days of great battles, 
in the midst of victory, in the despair of defeat. Whatever 
he was doing, the fate of the sentenced soldier was on his 
heart. On Friday, which was usually chosen as execution 
day, he often was heard to say, " They are shooting a boy 

at to-day. I hope I have not done wrong to allow it.'* 

In spite of his frequent interference, there were 267 men ex- 
ecuted by the United States military authorities during the 
Civil War. Of these, 141 were executed for desertion, and 



LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 169 

eight for desertion coupled with some other crime, such as 
murder. After those for desertion, the largest number of 
executions were for murder, sixty-seven in all. As to the 
manner of the executions, one hundred and eightv-seven 
were shot, seventy-nine hung, and in one case the offender 
was sent out of the world by some unknown way. 

Incidents and documents like those already given, show- 
ing the care and the sympathy President Lincoln felt for 
the common soldier, might be multiplied indefinitely. Noth- 
ing that concerned the life of the men in the line was foreign 
to him. The man might have shown cowardice. The 
President only said, " I never felt sure but I might drop 
my gun and run away if I found myself in line of battle." 
The man might be poor and friendless. " If he lias no 
friends, I'll be his friend," Lincoln said. The man might 
have deserted. " Suspend execution, send me his record," 
was the President's order. He was not only the Com- 
mander-in-chief of all the armies of the United States, he 
was the father of the army, and never did a man better de- 
serve a title than did he the one the soldiers gave him — 
" Father Abraham." 



CHAPTER XXVIII 
Lincoln's re-election in 1864 

It was not until the fall of 1863 that Abraham Lincoln 
was able to point to any substantial results from the long- 
months of hard thought and cautious experiment he had 
given to the Civil War. By that time he did have something 
to show. The borders of the Confederacy had been pressed 
back and shut in by an impregnable wall of ships and men. 
Mot only vv^ere the borders of the Confederacy narrowed ; the 
territory had been cut in two by the opening of the Missis- 
sippi, which, in Lincoln's expressive phrase, now ran " un- 
vexed to the sea." He had a war machine at last which kept 
the ranks of the army full. He had found a commander-in- 
chief in Grant; and, not less important, he had found, 
simultaneously with Grant, also Sherman, McPherson, and 
Thomas, as well as the proper places for the men with 
whom he had tried such costly experiments — for Burn- 
side and Hooker. He had his first effective results, too, 
from emancipation, that policy which he had 'inaugurated 
with such foreboding. Fully 100,000 former sla\'es were 
now in tlie United States service, and they had proved be- 
yond question their value as soldiers. More than this, it was 
evident that some form of emancipation would soon be 
adopted by the former slave States of Tennessee, Arkansas, 
Maryland, and Missouri. 

At every point, in slmrt, the policy which Lincoln had set 
in motion witli painful foresight and labor was working as 
he had believed it would work, but it was working slowly. 
He saw that many months of struggle and blood and pa- 

170 



LINCOLN'S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 171 

^lence were needed to complete his task ; many months — and 
in less than a year there would be a presidential election, and 
he might be obliged to leave his task unfinished. He did not 
hesitate to say frankly that he wanted the opportunity to 
finish it. Among the leaders of the Republican party were a 
few conservatives who, in the fall of 1863, supported Lin- 
coln in his desire for a second term; but there were more 
who doubted his ability and who were secretly looking for 
an abler man. At the same time, a strong and open opposi- 
tion to his re-election had developed in the radical wing of 
the party. 

The real cause of this opposition was Lincoln's unswerv- 
able purpose to use emancipation purely as a military meas- 
ure. The earliest active form this opposition took was prob- 
ably under the direction of Horace Greeley. In the spring 
of 1863, Mr. Greeley had become thoroughly disheartened 
by the slow progress of the war and the meager results of 
the Emancipation Proclamation. He was looking in every 
direction for some one to replace Lincoln, and eventually 
he settled on General Rosecrans, who at that moment was 
the most successful general before the country. Greeley, 
after consulting with a number of Republican leaders, de- 
cided that some one should go to Rosecrans and sound him. 
James R. Gilmore (" Edmund Kirke ") was chosen for this 
mission. Mr. Gilmore recounts, in his " Personal Recollec- 
tions of Abraham Lincoln," as an evidence of the extent of 
the discontent with Lincoln, that when he started on his 
mission, Mr. Greeley gave him letters to Rosecrans from 
about all the more prominent Republican leaders except Ros- 
coe Conkling, Charles Sumner, and Henry Wilson. 

Mr. Greeley's idea was, as he instructed Mr, Gilmore, to 
find out, first, if Rosecrans was " sound on the goose " (po- 
litical slang for sound on the anti-slavery policy), and, sec- 
ondlv, if he would consider the nomination to the presi- 



172 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

dency. lif Mr. Gilmore found Rosecrans satisfactory, 
Greeley declared that he would force Lincoln to resign, put 
Hamlin in his place, and compel the latter to give Rosecrans 
the command of the whole ami)-. His idea was, no doubt, 
that the war would then be finished promptly and Rosecrans 
would naturally be the candidate in 1864. 

Mr. Gilmore went on his mission. Rosecrans seemed to 
him to fulfil Mr. Greeley's ideas, and finally he laid the case 
before him. The General replied very promptly : " My place 
is here. The country gave me my education, and so has a 
right to my military services." He also declared that Mr. 
Greeley was wrong in his estimate of Lincoln and that 
time would show it. 

Lincoln knew thoroughly the feeling of the radicals at 
this time; he knew the danger there was to his hopes of a 
second term in opposing them ; but he could be neither per- 
suaded nor frightened into modifying his policy. The most 
conspicuous example of his firmness was in the case of the 
Missouri radicals. 

The radical party in Missouri was composed of men of 
great intelligence and perfect loyalty; but they were men of 
the Fremont type, idealists, incapal)le of compromise and 
impatient of caution. They had been in constant conflict 
with the conservatives of the State since the breaking out of 
the war, and l)y the spring of 1863, the rupture had become 
almost a national affair. Both sides claimed to be Union 
men and to believe in emancipation ; but while the conserva- 
tives believed in gradual emancipation, the radicals de- 
manded that it be immediate. The fight became so bitter 
that, as Lincoln said to one of the radicals who came to 
him early in 1863, begging his interference: " Either party 
would rather see the defeat of their adversary than that of 
Jefiferson Davis. You ought to have your heads knocked to- 
gether," he added in his exasperation. 



LINCOLN'S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 173 

Finally, he determined that he must break u[) somehow 
what he cahed their " pestilent, factional quarrel," and sent 
a new military governor, General J. M. Schofield, to Mis- 
souri. The advice he gave him was this: 

Let your military measures be strong enough to repel the 
invader and keep the peace, and not so strong as to unneces- 
sarily harass and persecute the people. It is a difficult role, 
and so much greater will be the honor if you perform it well. 
If both factions, or neither, shall abuse you, you will prob- 
ably be about right. Beware of being assailed by one and 
praised by the other. 

General Schofield was not able to live up to Lincoln's 
counsel. He incurred the suspicion and dislike of the radi- 
cals, and they determined that he must be removed. Sep- 
tember I, a great convention was held, and a committee of 
seventy persons was appointed to go to Washington and de- 
mand from Mr. Lincoln a redress of grievances. The con- 
vention of course had the sympathy of the radical anti-sla- 
very element of the whole North in its undertaking, and 
when the Committee of Seventy started for Washington they 
received an ovation in almost every State through which they 
passed. Arrived in Washington, they became the centre of 
the town's interest, and a great reception was given them in 
Union League Hall, at which eminent men denounced the 
conservatives of Missouri and demanded immediate emanci- 
pation. 

Mr. Lincoln did not receive the Committee at once but 
sent for their Secretary, Dr. Emil Preetorius, a leading Ger- 
man Radical. Mr. Preetorius says: ' 

" In response to a request from the President himself I 
immediately, in company with Senator ' Jim ' Lane, called 
at the White House. Mr. Lane soon excused himself and left 
me alone with the President. I had a long taik with him. 



174 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

explaining the situation in IMissouri, as we Radicals viewed 
it, and stating just why wc had come to Washington. We 
Germans had not felt so kindly toward Mr. Lincoln since 
he had set aside Fremont's proclamation of emancipation. 
We thought he had missed a great opportunity and had 
thereby displayed a lack of statesmanship. We believed him 
to be under the influence of the Blair family. Now that he 
himself had issued an emancipation proclamation we felt 
wronged because it applied only to the States in rebellion, 
and not to our own State. ' Thus,' I said to the President, 
' you are really punishing us for our courage and patriot- 
ism.' We felt, as Gratz Brown expressed it, that we had to 
fight three administrations — Lincoln's, Jeff Davis's, and our 
own Governor Gamble's. We felt that we had a right to 
complain because Lincoln sent out to Missouri generals that 
were not in sympathy with us. 

'' Our talk was of the very frankest kind. Lincoln said 
he knew I was a German revolutionist and expected me to 
take extreme views. I recollect distinctly his statement that 
he would rather be a follower than a leader of public opinion. 
He had reference to public opinion in the Border States. 
' We need the Border States,' said he. ' Public opinion in 
them has not matured. We must patiently educate them up 
to the right opinion.' The situation at that time was less 
favorable in the other Border States than in Missouri. Their 
Union men had not the strong fighters that Missouri had. 
As things were then going, the attitude of the Border States 
was of the very highest importance. I could realize that the 
more fully as Lincoln argued the case." 

An arrangement was made for the President to receive 
the committee on September 30 and hear their statement 
of grievances. The imposing procession of delegates went 
to the White House at nine o'clock in the morning. At the 
Committee's own request, all reporters and spectators were 
refused admission to the audience, only the President and 
one of his secretaries meeting them. Even the great front 
doors of the White House were locked during the forenoon. 

The conference began by the reading of an address which 



LINCOLN'S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 175 

denounced the conservative party, and demanded that Gen- 
eral Schofield be removed and General Benjamin F. Butler 
be put in his place, and that the enrolled militia of the State 
be discharged and national troops replace them. 

After the reading of the address, the President replied. 
Mr. Enos Clarke of St. Louis, who was one of the delegates, 
records the impression this reply made upon his mind : 

" The President listened with patient attention to our ad- 
dress," says Mr. Clarke. " and at the conclusion of the read- 
ing replied at length. I shall never forget the intense chagrin 
and disappointment we all felt at the treatment of the maitcr 
in the begirming of his reply. He seemed to belittle and min- 
imize the importance of our grievances and to give magni- 
tude to minor or unimportant matters. He gave us the im- 
pression of a pettifogger speaking before a justice of the 
peace jury. But as he talked on and made searching in- 
quiries of members of the delegation and invited debate, it 
became manifest that his manner at the beginning was really 
the foil of a master, to develop the weakness of the presenta- 
tion. Before the conclusion of the conference, he addressed 
himself to the whole matter in an elevated, dignified, exhaus- 
tive, and impressive manner. 

"There was no report made of this conference, but I 
remember that Mr. Lincoln made this statement: 'You 
gentlemen must bear in mind that in performing the duties 
of the office I hold I must represent no one section of the 
LInion, but I must act for all sections of the Pinion in trying 
to maintain the supremacy of the government.' And he also 
said this: ' I desire to so conduct the affairs of this Admin- 
istration that if, at the end, when I come to lay down the 
reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall 
at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down in- 
side of me.' These were characteristic expressions. 

" Toward the conclusion of the conference and after the 
whole matter had been exhaustivelv discussed by the Presi- 
dent and the petitioners, Mr. C. D. Drake, our chairman, 
stepped forward and said : ' Mr. President, the time has now 
come when we can no longer trespass upon your attention, 



176 LIFK OF LlNCOLJN 

but must take leave of you ; ' and in those deep, impressive, 
stentorian tones peculiar to Mr. Drake, he added, ' Many of 
these men who stand before you to-day return to inhospit- 
able homes, where rebel sentiments prevail, and many of 
them, sir, in returning there do so at the risk of their lives, 
and if any of those lives are sacrificed by reason of the mili- 
tary administration of this government, let me tell you, sir, 
that their blood will be upon your garments and not upon 
ours.' 

" During this impressive address the President stood be- 
fore the delegation with tears streaming down his cheeks, 
seeming deeply agitated. 

" The members of the delegation w^ere then presented in- 
dividually to the President and took leave of him. I shall 
always remember my last sight of Mr. Lincoln as we left the 
room. I was withdrawing, in company with others, and as 
I passed out I chanced to look back. Mr. Lincoln had met 
some personal acquaintances with whom he was exchanging 
pleasantries, and instead of the tears of a fcAV moments be- 
fore, he was indulging in hearty laughter. This rapid and 
wonderful transition from one extreme to the other im- 
pressed me greatly." 

Ex-Governor Johnson of Missouri, another member of 
the committee, says of Lincoln's reply to their address : 

The President in the course of his reply hesitated a great 
deal and was manifestly, as he said, very much troubled over 
the condition of affairs in Missouri. Pie said he was sorry 
there should be such divisions and dissensions; that they 
were a source of more anxiety to him than we could imagine. 
He expressed his ap])rcciation of the zeal of the radical men, 
but sometimes thought they did not understand tlie real sit- 
uation. He besought us not to get out of humor because 
things were not going as rapidly as w^e thought they should. 
The war. he pointed out. affected a much larger territory 
than that embraced within the borders of Missouri, and 
possibly he had better op])ortunities of judging of things 
than some of us gentlemen. He spoke with great kindness, 
but all the way through showed his profound regret at the 



LINCOLN'S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 1 77 

condition of affairs in our State. He regretted especially 
that some of the men who had founded the Republican party 
should now be arrayed apparently against his administra- 
tion. 

" 1 had met j\lr. Lincoln twice before then. This time he 
appeared dift'erent from what he had on the two former oc- 
casions. There was a perplexed look on his face. When he 
said he was bothered about this thing, he showed it. He 
spoke kindly, yet n(3w and then there was a little rasping 
tone in his voice that seemed to say : ' You men ought to hx 
this thing tip without tormenting me.' But he never lost his 
temper." 

One of Mr. Lincoln's secretaries was present at this con- 
ference and made notes on Mr. Lincoln's answer to the 
delegation. The following sentences quoted from these 
notes in Nicolay and Hay's '' Abraham Lincoln " show still 
further how plainly the President dealt w^ith the committee : 

" Your ideas of justice seem to depend on the application 
of it." 

" When you see a man loyally in favor of the Union- 
willing to vote men and money — spending his time and 
money and throwing his influence into the recruitment of 
our armies, I think it ungenerous, unjust, and impolitic to 
make views on abstract political questions a test of his loy- 
alty. I wall not be a party to this application of a pocket in- 
quisition. 

" You appear to come before me as my friends, if I agree 
w'ith yoti,and not otherwise. I do not here speak of mere per- 
sonal friendship. When I speak of my friends I mean those 
who are friendly to my measures, to the policy of the Gov- 
ernment. I am well aware that by many, by some even 
among this delegation — I shall not name them — I have been 
in public speeches and in printed documents charged with 
' tyranny and wilfulness,' wnth a disposition to make my 
own personal will supreme. I do not intend to be a tyrant. 
At all events I shall take care that in my own eyes I do not 
become one." 
(12) 



178 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Mr. Lincoln then sent the committee away, promising- to 
reply by letter to their address. The events of the next day 
showed him more plainly than ever what a following they 
had. The night after the conference, Secretary Chase g^ave 
them a great reception at his house, lie did not hesi- 
tate to say, in the course of the evening, that he was heartily 
in sympathy with their mission and that he hoped their 
military department would be entrusted to a gentleman 
whose motto was " Freedom for all." Going on to New 
York, the committee were given a great and enthusiastic 
meeting at Cooper Union : William Cullen Bryant made a 
sympathetic speech, and various men.liers of the committee 
indulged in violent denunciations of the conservative ele- 
ment of the country, and did not hesitate to threaten Mr. 
Lincoln with revolutionary action if he did not yield to 
their demands. 

Mr. Lincoln of course was not insensible to the political 
power of the Missouri radicals. He knew that this was a 
test case. He knew that they made their issue at a critical 
time for him, it being the eve of the fall elections. So im- 
portant did his supporters consider it that he do something 
to pacify radical sentiment that Mr. Leonard Swett, one of 
his most intimate friends, and one heartily in sympathy with 
his policy, urged him, one day in October, to take a more 
advanced position and recommend in his annual message a 
constitutional amendment abolishing slavery: 

Turning to me suddenly, he said, " Is not the (|uestion of 
emancipation doing well enough now?" I replied it was. 
" Well," said he, " I have never done an official act with a 
view to promote my own personal aggrandizement, antl I 
don't like to begin now. I can see that emancipation is 
coming ; whoever can wait for it will see it ; whoever stands 
in its way will be run over by it." 

In spite of the pressure and threats of the Committee of 



LINCOLN'S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 179 

Seventy, Lincoln, when he answered their letter on October 
5, yielded to none of their demands. He would not re- 
move General Schofield. He would not discharge the en- 
rolled militia. 

He repeated that they were acting as factionists, declared 
that they had failed to convince him that General Schofield 
and the enrolled militia which they charged caused the suf- 
fering of the Union party in the State were responsible, and 
in a few remarkable paragraphs described what in his 
opinion was the cause of the trouble in Missouri : 

We are in civil war. In such cases there always is a 
main question ; but in this case that question is a perplexing 
compound — Union and slavery. It thus becomes a question 
not of two sides merely, but of at least four sides, even among 
those who are for the Union, saying nothing of those who are 
against it. Thus, those who are for the Union with, but not 
without slavery — those for it without, but not with — those for 
it with or without, but prefer it with — and those for it with 
or without, but prefer it without. 

Among these again is a sul^division of those who are 
for gradual, but not for immediate, and those who are for 
immediate, Init not for gradual extinction of slavery. It is 
easy to conceive that all these shades of opinion, and even 
more, may be sincerely entertained by honest and truthful 
men. Yet, all being for the Union, by reason of these differ- 
ences each will jn-efer a different way of sustaining the 
Union. At once sincerity is questioned and motives are as- 
sailed. Actual war coming, blood grows hot, and blood is 
spilled. Thought is forced from old channels into confusion. 
Deception breeds and thrives. Confidence dies and 
universal suspicion reigns. Each man feels an impulse 
to kill his neighbor, lest he be first killed by him. Revenge 
and retaliation follow. And all this, as before .said, may 
be amongst honest men onlv; luit this is not all. Every 
foul bird comes abroad and every dirty reptile rises up. 
These add crime to confusion. Strong measures deemed 
indispensable, but harsh at best, such men make worse 
by maladministration. Mu'-ders for old grudges, and mur- 



l8o LIFE OF LINCOLN 

ders for pelf, proceed under any cloak that will best cover 
for the occasion. These causes amply account for what has 
occurred in Missouri, without ascribing it to the weakness or 
wickedness of any general. 

He closed his letter refusing their requests with a few of 
those resolute sentences of which he was capable when he 
had made up his mind to do a thing in spite of all opposition : 

I do not feel justified to enter upon the broad field you 
present in regard to the political differences between 
Radicals and Conservatives. From time to time I have 
done and said what appeared to me proper to do and say. 
The public knows it all. It obliged nobody to follow me, 
and I trust it obliges me to follow nobody. The Radicals 
and Conservatives each agree with me in some things and 
disagree in others. I could wish both to agree with me in all 
things, for then they would agree with each other and 
would be too strong for any foe from any quarter. They, 
however, choose to do otherwise; and I do not question their 
right. I too shall do what seems to be my duty. I hold 
whoever commands in Missouri or elsewhere responsible to 
me and not to either Radicals or Conservatives. It is mv 
duty to bear all, but at last I must within my sphere, judge 
what to do and what to forbear. 

There was no mistaking this letter of Lincoln. It told 
the radicals not only of Missouri, but of the whole North, 
that the President was not to be moved from his emancipa- 
tion policy. 

Another complaint wdiich many Republicans as well as all 
Democrats made against Mr. Lincoln in 1864, was his inter- 
pretation of what constituted treason against the govern- 
ment. Their dissatisfaction culminated in what is known as 
the Vallandigham case. ^^Ir. A^allandigham was an Ohio 
Democrat of the Copperhead \-arict\' who, from the begin- 
ning had opposed the war, although declaring himself for the 
Union. In the spring of 1863 his attacks on the administra 



LINCOLN'S REELECTION IN 1864 481 

tion were particularly virulent. He accused the government 
of not being willing to meet the Confederacy and arrange a 
peace, of being unconstitutional in enforcing the draft and of 
making arbitrary military arrests and imprisonments. The 
party which he represented seemed to be growing in influence 
every day, and it was known that the efficiency of the army in 
the winter of 1862-63 had been seriously undermined by the 
influence of the Copperhead element at home. Mr. Lincoln 
was opposed to noticing any opposition of this kind unless 
driven to it, but not all of his subordinates felt the same 
way. Some of the generals in the army were especially in- 
censed by it, among them General Burnside, then at the 
head of the Department of the Ohio, who, on April 13, 
1863, issued an order in which he said: 

" The habit of declaring sympathies for the enemy will 
not be allowed in this department. Persons committing 
such offenses will be at once arrested with a view to being 
tried as above stated or sent beyond our lines into the lines 
of their friends. 

" It must be distinctly understood that treason expressed 
or implied will not be tolerated in this department." 

Mr. Vallandigham was angered by this order and in public 
addresses declared it a " base usurpation of arbitrary author- 
ity," which he should resist. General Burnside retaliated 
by ordering Vallandigham's arrest at Dayton, Ohio, after a 
public address in which he had declared among other things 
that the present war was a " wicked, cruel and unnecessary 
war; " "a war not being waged for the preservation of the 
Union; " " a war for the purpose of crushing out liberty and 
erecting a despotism; " " a war for the freedom of the blacks 
and the enslavement of the white;" stating '' that if the Ad- 
ministration had so wished the war could have been j.onor- 
ably terminated months ago : " that " peace mig-ht have been 



J if 2 Lib^E OF LINCOLN 

honorably obtained by listening to the proposed intermedin 
lion of France," etc., etc. 

Vallandigham was tried soon after arrest by a military 
commission, pronounced guilty and sentenced to " close con- 
finement in some fortress of the United States." The arrest, 
the trial by military instead of by civil court, the sentence, 
aroused a tremendous outcry throughout the country. The 
best newspapers, including the New York '' Evening Post " 
and the New York " Tribune " condemned the government. 
Protests and applications for his release poured in upon the 
President. 

It is probable that Mr. Lincoln regretted the arrest of Val- 
landigham, for he wrote Burnside afterward : "All the 

Cabinet regret the necessity of arresting 

Vallandigham, some perhaps doubting there w^as a real 
necessity for it; but, being done, all w^ere for seeing you 
through with it." Lincoln had, however, no idea of releas- 
ing Vallandigham. His one concern was to prevent the 
prisoner appearing to the country as a martyr for liberty, 
the victim of tyranny, and, taking the hint from Burn- 
side's order he directed that '' the prisoner be put beyond 
our military lines," that is, that he be sent over to the Con- 
federates. General Burnside objected to this. His earnest- 
ness had so blinded his sense of humor that he did not see 
that this disposition of the prisoner would take away much 
of the sympathy and dignity which must always attend the 
tragedy of close confinement. Mr. Lincoln insisted, and 
finally Vallandigham, attended only by a military escort, 
was secretly conducted under a flag of truce within the lines 
of the Confederate general, Braxton Bragg. 

There was nothing heroic about this turn in the affair. 
Vallandigham protested vehemently that he was not a sym- 
pathizer of the South, that he was for the Union. The Con- 
federates were as disgusted as the prisoner. Mr. Lincoln, 



UNCOLN'S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 183 

they said to one another, intends to make a Botany Bay of 
the Confederacy. Tlie Confederate Secretary of War wrote 
General Bragg in a rather irritable tone that it was clearly an 
abuse of the flag of truce to employ it to cover a guard over 
expelled citizens, non-combatants. An old friend of Val- 
landigham in Virginia offered the government to give him a 
home if he desired to remain in the Confederacy, but both 
Vallandigham and the Confederates saw the absurdity of the 
situation and desired only that it be changed as quickly as pos- 
sible. Considerable correspondence passed between the pris- 
oner and the authorities with the result that on June 2, Jeffer- 
son Davis ordered General Bragg to send Vallandigham, 
as an alien enemy, under guard of an ofificer, to Wilmington, 
and the Secretary of War wrote to the commissioner hav- 
ing the prisoner in charge, the following directions : 

It is not the desire or purpose of this govern- 
ment to treat this victim of unjust and arbitrary power with 
other than lenity and consideration, but as an alien enemy he 
cannot be received to friendly hospitality or allowed a con- 
tinued refuge in freedom in our midst. This is due alike 
to our safety and to him in his acknowledged position as an 
enemy. You have therefore been charged with the duty, 
not inappropriate to the commission you hold in relation to 
prisoners, etc., of meeting him in Lynchburg, and there as- 
suming direction and control of his future movements. He 
must be regarded by you as under arrest, permitted, unless 
in your discretion you deem it necessary to revoke the privi- 
lege to be at large on his parole not to attempt to escai)e nor 
hereafter to reveal to the prejudice of the Confederate States 
anything he may see or learn while therein. You will see 
that he is not molested or assailed or unduly intruded upon. 
and extend to him the attentions and kind treatment consist- 
ent with his relations as an alien enemy. After a reason- 
able delay with him at Lynchburg, to allow rest and recrea- 
tion from the fatigues of his recent exposure and travel, you 
will proceed with him to Wilmington, N. C, and there de- 



1 84 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

liver him to the charge of ^lajor-General \\'hiting, coni- 
manding in that district, by whom he will be allowed at an 
early convenient opportunit} to take shipping for any neutral 
port he may prefer, whether in Europe, the Islands, or on 
this Continent. More full instructions on this point will be 
given to General Whiting, and your duty will be discharged 
when you shall have conducted 'Mr. \'allandigham to Wil- 
mington and placed him at the disposition of that com- 
mander. 

These directions were carried out and Vallandigham 
sailed for Bermuda and thence for Halifax. August 27 the 
Provost-Marshal-General was notified that he was at Wind- 
sor, opposite Detroit. 

Although Lincoln, by his adroit disposition of Vallandig- 
ham had taken much of the dignity out of his position, his 
supporters were determined to make the matter an issue, 
and on ]May 19 the Xew York Democrats, and again on 
June 26, the Ohio Democrats, while urging their loyalty to 
the Union protested against the arrest, and called upon the 
President to restore the exile to his home. Such arrests and 
trials as his were, they declared, contrary to the Constitu- 
tion, a violation of the right of free speech and the right 
to a fair trial. On June 12 and June 29, Lincoln replied 
respectively to these protest*^ m a couple of letters in which 
he defended his course. Only the briefest extract can be 
given here, but they show tn*-. clearness and boldness of his 
argument. 

" . , . The resolutions promise to support me in 
every constitutional and lawful measure to suppress the re- 
bellion; and I have not knowingly employed, nor shall 
knov.'ingly employ, any other. But the meeting, by their 
resolutions assert and argue that certain military arrests, and 
proceedings following them, for which I am ultimately re- 
sponsible, are unconstitutional. I think they are not 



LINCOLN'S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 185 

"... he who dissuades one man from vohinteering-, 
or induces one soldier to desert, weakens the Unirni cause 
as much as he who kills a Union soldier in battle. Yet this 
dissuasion or inducement may be so conducted as to Ijc no 
defined crime of which any civil court would take cogni- 
zance. 

" Ours is a case of rebellion — so called by the resolutions 
before me — in fact, a clear, flagrant, and gigantic case of 
rebellion; and the provision of th.e Constitution that. ' the 
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended 
unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public 
safety may require it,' is tlie provision which specially ap- 
plies to our present case. 

'■ yir. \'allandig"ham avows his hostility to the war on the 
part of the Union ; and his arrest was made because he was 
laboring, with some effect, to prevent the raising of troops, 
to encourage desertions from the army, and to leave the re- 
bellion without an adequate military force to suppress it. 
He was not arrested because he was damaging the political 
prospects of the administration or the personal interests of 
the commanding general, but because he was damaging the 
army, upon the existence and vigor of which the life of the 
nation depends. He \vas warring upon the military, and 
this gave the military constitutional jurisdiction to lay 
hands upon him. If ]\Ir. A^allandingham was not damaging 
the military power of the country, then his arrest was made 
on mistake of fact, which I would be glad to correct on rea- 
sonably satisfactory evidence. 

" I understand the meeting whose resolutions I am con- 
sidering to be in favor of suppressing the rebellion by mili- 
tary force — by armies. Long experience has shown that 
armies cannot be maintained unless desertion shall be pun- 
ished by the severe penalty of death. The case requires, and 
the law and the Constitution sanction, this punishment. 

• ••••••* 

" If I be wrong on this question of constitutional power, 
my error lies in believing that certain proceedings are con- 
stitutional when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public 



l86 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

safety requires them, which would not be constitutional 
when, in absence of rebellion or invasion, the public safety 
does not require them ; in other words, that the Constitu- 
tion is not in its application in all respects the same in cases 
of rebellion or invasion involving the public safety, as it is 
in times of profound peace and public security. The Con- 
stitution itself makes the distinction, and I can no more be 
persuaded that the government can constitutionally take no 
strong measures in time of rebellion, because it can be shown 
that the same could not be lawfully taken in time of peace, 
than I can be persuaded that a particular drug is not good 
medicine for a sick man because it can be shown to not be 
good food for a well one. Nor am 1 able to appreciate the 
danger apprehended by the meeting, that the American peo- 
ple will by means of military arrests during the rebellion lose 
the right of public discussion, the liberty of speech and the 
press, the law of evidence, trial by jury, and habeas corpus 
throughout the indefinite peaceful future which I trust lies 
before them, any more than I am able to believe that a man 
could contract so strong an appetite for emetics during tem- 
porary illness as to persist in feeding upon them during the 
remainder of his healthful life." 

The Democrats called the letter despotic, but the people 
saw the sound sense of the arguments, and when in the fall 
Vallandigham, still in exile, was run for Governor of Ohio, 
he was defeated by over 100,000 votes. When a few months 
later he dared the President, came back and began to make 
violent speeches, no attention was paid to him. The right 
of the President to suppress any man who hurt the army and 
thus the Union cause was clearly fixed in the people's mind. 
If anybody wavered, Lincoln's letters were brought out. 
Vallandigham henceforth rather helped than injured the 
President. 

The first effect of Lincoln's resolution in enforcing his 
own policy was to stimulate the search his opponents were 
making for a man to put in his place. At that time — the 
fall of 1863 — Grant was the military here 1/ the country, 



LINCOLN'S RE-ELECTION IN 7864 187 

and his name began to be urged for the Presidency. Now 
Lincohi had never seen Grant. Was he a man whose head 
could be turned by a sudden notoriety? Could it be that, 
just as he had found the commander for whom he had 
searched so long, he was to lose him through a burst of 
popular gratitude and hero-worship? He decided to find 
out Grant's feeling. He did this through Mr. J. Russell 
Jones of Chicago, a friend of the General. 

"In 1863," says Mr. Jones, "some of the newspapers, 
especially the New York ' Herald,' were trying to boom 
Grant for the Presidency.'" While General Grant was at 
Chattanooga, I wrote him. in substance, that I did not wish 
to meddle with his affairs, but that I could not resist suggest- 
ing that he pay no attention to what the newspapers were 
saying in that connection. He immediately replied, saying 
that everything of that nature which reached him went into 
the waste-basket ; that he felt he had as big a job on hand as 
one man need desire ; that his only ambition was to suppress 
the rebellion ; and that, even if he had a desire to be Presi- 
dent, he could not possibly entertain the thought of becoming 
a candidate for the office, nor of accepting a nomination were 
one tendered him, so long as there was a possibility of keep- 
ing Mr. Lincoln in the presidential chair. The wliole spirit 
of his letter was one of the most perfect devotion to Lin- 
coln. 

" Before this letter reached me, however. President Lin- 
coln telegraphed me to come to Washington. The telegram 
gave no hint of the business upon which he wished to see me, 
and I had no information upon which to found even a sus- 
picion of its nature. On my way to tlie train I stopped at 
my ofiRce, in the postoffice building, and in passing my box 
in the postoffice I opened it and took out several letters. I 
put them into my pocket, and did not look at them until after 
I had gotten aboard the train. I then discovered that one of 
the letters was from General Grant ; it was the letter of which 



*The "Herald" published its first editorial advocating Grant on 
De-cember 15, 1863. It was headed, " Grant as the People's Candidate." 



l8S LIFE OF LINCOLN 

I have already spoken. The circumstance has always seemed 
to me to have been providential. 

" Upon my arrival at Washington, I sent word to the 
President that I had arrived and would be glad to call when- 
ever it was most convenient and agreeable for him to receive 
me. He sent back a request for me to call that evening at 
eight o'clock. I went to the White House at that hour. 

" When the President had gotten through with the per- 
sons with whom he was engaged, I was invited into his 
room,. The President then gave directions to say to all that 
he was engaged for the evening. Mr. Lincoln opened the 
conversation by saying that he was anxious to see somebody 
from the West with whom he could talk upon the general 
situation and had therefore sent for me. Mr. Lincoln made 
no allusion whatever to Grant. I had been there but a few 
minutes, however, when I fancied he would like to talk about 
Grant, and I interrupted him by saying : 

" 'Mr. President, if you will excuse me for interrupting 
you, I want to ask you kindly to read a letter that I got from 
my box as I was on my way to the train.' 

" Whereupon I gave him Grant's letter. He read it with 
evident interest. When he came to the part where Grant said 
that it would be impossible for him to think of the presidency 
as long as there was a possibility of retaining Mr. Lincoln in 
the office, he read no further, but arose and, approaching me, 
put his hand on my shoulder and said : 

" * My son, you will never know how gratifying that is to 
me. No man knows, when that presidential grub gets to 
gnawing at him. just how deep it will get until he has tried 
it ; and I didn't know but what there was one gnawing at 
Grant.' 

" The fact was that this was just what Mr. Lincoln wanted 
to know. He had said to Congressman Washburne, as I af- 
terwards ascertained : 

" * About all I know of Grant I have got from you. I have 
never seen him. Who else l)esides you knows anything about 
Grant?' 

" Washburne replied : 

" ' I know very little about him. He is my townsman, but 
I never saw very much of him. The only man who really 



IJNCOLN'S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 iSo 

knows Grant is Jones. He has summered and wintered with 
him.' (This was an alkision to the winter I spent with Grant 
in Mississippi, at the time Van Dorn got into Holly 
Springs.) 

" It was this statement of Washbnrne's which caused Lin- 
coln to telegraph me to come to Washington," 

But there were other names than Grant's in the mouth of 
the opposition. All through the winter of 1863- 1864, in 
fact, the great majority of the Republican leaders were dis- 
cussing- different candidates. One of the men whom they 
approached was the Vice-President, Hannibal Hamlin. He 
was a man of strong anti-slavery feeling, and it was well 
known that Lincoln never had gone fast enough to suit him. 
Would he accept the candidacy? he was asked. Mr. Hamlin 
would not listen to the suggestion. Lincoln, he said, was his 
friend. Their views were not always the same, but he be- 
lieved in Lincoln, and would not be untrue to his official re- 
lation. Not every member of the official family, however, 
had the same sense of loyalty. Indeed, before the end of 
1863, an active campaign for the nomination was being con- 
ducted by one of the members of the cabinet, Mr. Chase, 
Secretary of the Treasury. 

Mr. Chase had been a rival of Lincoln in i860. He had 
gone into the cabinet with a feeling very like that of Mr. 
Seward, that Lincoln was an inexperienced man, incapable 
of handling the situation, and that he or Mr. Seward would 
be the premier. Mr Seward soon found that Lincoln was 
the master, and he was great enough to acknowledge the su- 
premacy. But Mr. Chase was never able to realize Lincoln's 
greatness. He continued to regard him as an inferior mind, 
and seemed to believe, honestly enough, that the people 
would prefer himself as President if they could only have 
an opportunity to vote for him. All through the winter of 
1863- 1 864 he carried on a voluminous private correspond- 



I90 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

ence in the interests of his nomination, and about the middle 
of the winter he consented that his name be submitted to the 
people. The first conspicuous effort to promote his can- 
didacy was a circular marked " confidential," sent out in 
February 1864, by Senator Pomeroy of Kansas, calling on 
the country to organize in behalf of Mr. Chase. The Secre- 
tary hastened to assure Mr. Lincoln that he knew nothing of 
this circular until he saw it in the newspapers, but he con- 
fessed that he had consented that his name be used as a presi- 
dential candidate, and said that if Mr. Lincoln felt that this 
impaired his usefulness as Secretary of the Treasury, he did 
not wish to continue in his position. 

Lincoln had known for many months of Mr. Chase's 
anxiety for the nomination, but he had studiously ignored 
it. He could not be persuaded by anybody to do anything 
to interrupt Mr. Chase's electioneering. Now that the Sec- 
retary had called his attention to the matter of the circular, 
however, he replied courteously, though indifferently : 

" . . . My knowledge of Mr. Pomeroy's letter having 
been made public came to me only the day you wrote; but I 
had, in spite of myself, known of its existence several days 
before. I have not yet read it, and I think I shall not. I 
was not shocked or surprised by the ai)pearance of the letter, 
because I had had knowledge of Mr. Pomeroy's committee, 
and of secret issues which, I supposed came from it, and of 
secret agents who I supposed were sent out by it, for sev- 
eral weeks. I have known just as little of these things as 
my friends have allowed me to know. They bring the docu- 
ments to me, but I do not read them ; they tell me what they 
think fit to tell me, but T do not inquire for more. . . . 

" Whether you shall remain at the head of the Treasury 
Department is a question which I will not allow myself to 
consider from any standpoint other than my judgment of the 
public service, and, in that view, I do not perceive occasion 
for a change." 



LINCOLN'S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 191 

Mr. Chase was free, as far as Lincoln was concerned, to 
conduct his presidential campaign from his seat in the cabi- 
net. But the Republicans of his State were not willing that 
he should do so, and three days after the Pomeroy circular 
first appeared in print, the Union members of the legislature 
demanded, in the name of the people and of the soldiers of 
Ohio, that Lincoln be renominated. There was nothing to 
do then but for Mr. Chase to withdraw. 

Lideed, it was already becoming evident to Lincoln's most 
determined antagonists in the party that it would be useless 
for them to try to nominate anybody else. On all sides — in 
State legislatures, Union leagues, caucuses — tlie people were 
demanding that Lincoln be renominated. The case was a 
curious one. h'our years before, Lincoln had been nominated 
for the Presidency of the United States because he was an 
available candidate, not from any general confidence that he 
was the best man in the Republican party for the place. 
Now, on the contrary, it was declared that he would have to 
be nominated because he had won the confidence of the 
people so completely that no candidate would have any 
chance against him. Li four years he had risen from a posi- 
tion of comparative obscurity to be the most generally 
trusted man in the North. The great reason for this confi- 
dence was that the people understood exactly what he was 
trying to do and why he was trying to do it. From the be- 
ginning of his Administration, in fact, Lincoln had taken 
the people into his confidence. Whenever a strong opposi- 
tion to his policy developed in any quarter, it was his habit 
to explain in a public letter exactly why he was doing what 
he was doing, and why he was not doing the thing he was 
urged to do. He had written such a letter to Greeley in 
August, 1862, explaining his view of the relation of emanci- 
pation to the war; such were his letters in June, 1863, reply- 
ing to the Democrats of New York and Ohio who protested 



192 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

against the arrest of Vallaiidigham for treasonable speech; 
such his letter to James C. Conkling in August, 1863, ex- 
plaining his views of peace, of emancipation, of colored 
troops. These public letters are Lincoln's most remarkable 
state papers. They are invincible in their logic and incom- 
parable in their simplicity and lucidity of expression. By 
means of them he convinced the people of his own rigid 
mental honesty, put reasons for his actions into their mouths, 
gave them explanations which were demonstrations. They 
believed in him because he had been frank with them, and 
because he tried to make matters so clear to them, used 
words they could understand, kept the principle free from all 
non-essential and partisan considerations. 

Scarcely less important than these letters in convincing the 
people of the wisdom of his policy were Lincoln's stories and 
sayings. In February, 1864, just after the popular demand 
for his renomination began to develop, the New York 
" Evening Post " published some two columns of Lincoln's 
stories. The New York " Herald " jeered at the collection 
as the " first electioneering document " of the campaign, and 
reprinted them as a proof of the unfitness of Lincoln for the 
presidency. But jeer as it would, the " Herald " could not 
hide from its readers the wit and the philosophy of the jokes. 
Every one of them had been used to explain a point or to set- 
tle a question, and under their laughter was concealed some 
of the man's soundest reasoning. Indeed, at that very mo- 
ment the " Herald " might have seen, if it had been more dis- 
cerning, that it w-as a Lincoln saying going up and down the 
country that was serving as one the strongest arguments for 
his renomination, the remark that it is never best to swap 
horses in crossing a stream. Lincoln had used it in speaking 
of the danger of changing Presidents in the middle of the 
war. He might have written a long message on the value 
of experience in a national crisis, and it would have been 



LINCOLN'S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 193 

meaningless to the masses; but this homely figure o. swap- 
ping horses in the middle of the stream appealed to their hu- 
mor and their common sense. It was repeated over and over 
in the newspapers of the country. It was in every man's 
mouth, and was of inestimable value in helping plain i)eople 
to see the danger of changing Presidents while the war was 
going on. 

The Union convention was set for June. As the time ap- 
proached, Lincoln enthusiasm grew. It was fed by Grant's 
steady beating back of Lee toward Richmond. The country, 
wild with joy, cried out that before July Grant would be in 
the Confederate capital and the war would be ended. The 
opposition to Lincoln that had worked so long steadily dwin- 
dled in the face of military success, until all of which it was 
capable was a small convention in May, in Cleveland, at 
which Fremont was nominated. 

The Union convention met in June. That it would nomi- 
nate Lincoln w^as a foregone conclusion. " The convention 
has no candidate to choose," said the Philadelphia " Press." 
" Choice is forbidden it by the previous action of the people." 
The preliminary work of the convention, seating delegates 
and framing a platform, was rapidly disposed of. Then on 
June 8, after a skirmish about the method of nominating 
the candidates, Illinois presented the name of Abraham Lin- 
coln. A call of States was immediately taken. One after 
another they answered : Pennsylvania for Lincoln, New 
York for Lincoln, New England solid for him. Kentucky 
solid, and so on through the thirty States and Territories 
represented ; only one dissenting delegation in the entire 
thirty : Missouri, whose radical Union representatives gave 
twenty-two votes for Grant. On the second reading of the 
vote this ballot was changed, so that the final vote stood 506 
for Lincoln. 

The President took his renomination calmly. " I do not 
C13) 



194 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

allow myself to suppose," he said to a delegation from the 
National Union League which came to congratulate him, 
" that either the convention or the League have concluded to 
decide that I am either the greatest or best man in America, 
but rather they have concluded that it is not best to swap 
horses while crossing the river, and have further concluded 
that I am not so poor a horse that they might not make a 
botch of it trying to swap." 

The renomination of Lincoln had taken place when the 
country and the Administration were rejoicing in Grant's 
successes and still prophesying that the war was practically 
over. The developments of the next fcAV days after the nom- 
ination put a new look on the military situation. Instead of 
entering Richmond, Grant attacked Petersburg; but before 
he could capture it the town had been so re-enforced that it 
was evident nothing but a siege could reduce it. Now the 
Army of the Potomac in its march from the Rapidan to the 
James, extending from May 4th to June 24th, had lost 
nearly 55,000 men. If Petersburg was to be besieged, it was 
clear that the army must be re-enforced, that there must be 
another draft. The President had hinted that this was pos- 
sible only a week after his nomination, in an address in Phil- 
adelphia at a sanitary fair : 

" If I shall discover," he asked, " that General Grant and 
the noble officers and men under him can be greatly facili- 
tated in their work by a sudden pouring forward of men and 
assistance, will you give them to me? Are you ready to 
march?" Cries of "yes" answered him. "Then I say. 
stand ready," he replied, " for I am watching for the 
chance." 

A few days later he visited Grant, and rode the lines in 
front of Petersburg. All that he saw, all the events of the 
following days, only made it clearer to him that there must 
be another outpouring of men. His friends besought him to 



LINCOLN'S REELECTION IN 1864 195 

try to get on without it. The country was growing daily 
more discouraged as it reaHzed that its hope of speedy vic- 
tory was vain. A new draft would arouse opposition, give 
a new weapon to the Democrats, make his re-election uncer- 
tain: he could not afford it. He refused their counsels. 
"* We must lose nothing even if I am defeated," he said. " I 
am quite willing the people should understand the issue. My 
re-election will mean that the rebellion is to be crushed by 
force of arms." And on July 18, he called for 500,000 
volunteers for one, two, and three years. 

All the discontent that had been prophesied broke forth on 
this call. The awful brutality of the war came upon the 
country as never before. There was a revulsion of feeling 
against the sacrifice going on, such as had not been ex- 
perienced since the war began. All the complaints that had 
been urged against Lincoln both by radical Republicans and 
by Democrats broke out afresh. The draft was talked of as 
if it were the arbitrary freak of a tyrant. It was declared that 
Lincoln had violated constitutional rights, personal liberty, 
the liberty of the press, the rights of asylum ; that, in short, 
he had been guilty of all the abuses of a military dictator. 
Much bitter criticism was made of his treatment of peace 
overtures. It was declared that the Confederates were 
anxious to make peace, and had taken the first steps, but that 
Lincoln was so bloodthirsty that he was unwilling to use any 
means but force. Even Horace Greeley joined now in this 
criticism, though up to this summer he had stood with the 
President on the question. In May, 1864, when Congress- 
man Dawson proposed in the Senate that the North should 
" tender the olive branch of peace as an exchange for the 
sword," the " Tribune " ridiculed the idea and suggested that 
Mr. Dawson, without waiting for the House to adopt his 
resolution, should start at once on his private account for 
the camp of General Lee " with a whole cart-load of olive 



196 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

branches." " Some good may come of it," said Mr. Gree 
ley; " Mr. Dawson may possibly be treated as a spy." 

Later, when peace was proposed in the Confederate Con- 
gress, Mr. Greeley said : 

" Speaking generally, it is safe to say that if there had 
been any foundation other than the unconditional surrender 
of the ' Confederacy,' upon which to build it, we would ha\e 
had peace long ago. But the quarrel is a mortal one .... 
there can be no peace the terms of which are not dictated and 
enforced by the Congress of the United States." 

On June lo, in answer to an attack on the administra- 
tion for refusing to allow^ a Confederate gun-boat to bring 
Stephens to Washington, Greeley said : 

" The naked truth lies here : Up to this hour the rebels 
have never been ready or willing to treat wath our govern- 
ment on any other footing than that of independence; and 
this we have not been inclined to concede. When they (or 
we) have been beaten into a willingness to concede the vital 
matter in dispute, negotiations for ^;^&(.cq: will be in order — 
and not till then." 

In spite of these utterances however, Mr. Greeley wavered 
in July, upon receiving from an irresponsible and officious 
individual known as " Colorado Jewett," a communication 
stating that two ambassadors of " Davis and Company " 
were in Canada wnth full and complete powers for a peace, 
and requesting Mr. Greeley to come immediately to Niagara, 
Taking the matter seriously he wrote the President a long 
and hysterical letter, urging that the offer be accepted, and 
some one sent to Niagara. Mr. Lincoln saw his chance to 
demonstrate to the country the futility of peace negotiations. 
He replied immediately appointing Greeley himself as an 
ambassador to meet the parties. 




MR. LINCOLN AND HIS SON THOMAS, FAMILIARLY KNOWN AS "TrtD." 

IH64. BY BRADY. 



ABOUT 



-LINCOLN'S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 197 

"If you can find any person anywhere," he wrote, " pro^ 
Jessing to have any proposition of Jefferson Davis in writing 
for peace, embracing the restoration of the Union and ahan- 
dvonment of slavery, whatever else it embraces, say to him. 
he may come to me with yon; and that if he really brings 
such proposition, he shall at the least have safe conduct with 
the paper (and without publicity, if he chooses) to the point 
where you shall have met him. The same if there be two or 
more persons." 

This was a turn that the editor of the " Tribune " had evi- 
dently i;ot expected, but l^fr. Lincoln insisted that he carry 
out the commission, his only conditions being the ones stated 
above, and he sent him the following paper: 

" To Whom It May Concern : Any proposition which 
embraces the restoration of peace, the integrity of the whole 
Union, and the abandonment of slavery, and which comes 
by and wath an authority that can control the armies now at 
war against the United States, will be received and con- 
sidered by the Executive Government of the United States, 
and will be met by liberal terms on other substantial and 
collateral points, and the bearer or bearers thereof shall have 
safe conduct both ways. Abraham Lincoln.'"' 

Mr. Greeley went to Niagara, but as it turned out the 
persons whom he had taken seriously had no authority what- 
ever from Davis, and they declared that no negotiations for 
peace were possible if Mr. Lincoln's conditions must l)e con- 
ceded. So the conference, which ran over a number of days, 
and which was enveloped in much mystery, fell through. At 
the end it got into the newspapers, though only a portion of 
the correspondence was published at the time. It was evi- 
dent to people of sense however, that Mr. Greeley had been 
hoodwinked. It was evident, too, that the President was 
willing to carry on peace negotiations if those points for 
which the war had been fought were vielded. All the 
effectiveness of peace cries after this, was gone. Senator 



1 98 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



Harlan of Iowa, who, with other Republicans, appreciated 
thoroughly the clever way in which Lincoln had disposed of 
the editor of the " Tribune," said to him one dav on the ter- 
race of the White House : " Some of us think, Mr. Lincoln, 
that you didn't send a very good ambassador to Niagara." 
" Well, I'll tell you about that, Harlan," replied the Presi- 
dent, " Greeley kept abusing me for not entering into peace 




t^QEXD SCRATCHED ON A WINDOW PANE BY J. AVIL.KES BOOTH, AT MEADVILLBv 

PENNSYLVANIA, AUGUST, lStJ4. 



negotiations. He said he believed we could have peace if I 
would do my part and when he began to urge that I send an 
ambassador to Niagara to meet Confederate emissaries, I 
just thought I would let him go up and crack that nut for 
himself." 

As July dragged on and August passed there was no break 
In the gloom. Farragut was threatening Mobile; Sherman, 



LINCOLN'S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 199 

Atlanta; Grant, Petersburg; but all of these three great un- 
dertakings seemed to promise nothing but a fruitless 
slaughter of men. The despair and indignation of the coun- 
try in this dreadful time all centered on Lincoln. Republi- 
cans, hopeless of reelecting him, talked of replacing him by 
another candidate. The Democrats argued that the war and 
all its woes were the direct result of his tyrannical and un- 
constitutional policy The more violent intimated that he 
should be put out 01 the way. A sign of the bitterness against 
him little noted at the moment, but sinister in the light of 
after events, was an inscription found one August morning 
written on the window of a room in a Meadville (Pennsyl- 
vania) hotel. The room had been occupied the night before 
by a favorite actor, J. Wilkes Booth. The inscription ran : 
'* Abe Lincoln Departed this Life Aug. i3th, 1864, By the 
effects of Poison." 

In the dreadful uproar of discontent one cry alarmed Lin- 
coln more than all others ; this was the revival of the demand 
that Grant be presented for the presidency. It was not so 
much the fear of defeat by Grant that affected him as it was 
the dread that the campaign would be neglected if the Gen- 
eral went into politics. He concluded that he ought to sound 
Grant again. Colonel John Eaton (now General), a friend 
of Grant, was in Washington at the time and often with Mr. 
Lincoln. Referring to the efforts making to nominate 
Grant, Lincoln asked if the Colonel knew what the General 
thought of the attempt. No, the Colonel said, lie didn't. 

" Well," said Lincoln, " if Grant is the great general we 
think he is, he must have some consciousness of it, and know 
that he cannot be satisfied with himself and secure the credit 
due for his great generalship if he docs not finish the job." 
And he adr''.ed, " I don't believe they can get him to run. ' 

The President then asked the Colonel if he could not go to 
Grant and find out for him how the General felt. Colonel 



200 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Eaton started at once on his errand. Reaching headquarters 
and being received by the General, he worked his way to the 
subject by recounting hov; he had met persons recently in 
travelling who had asked him if he thought Grant could be 
induced to run against Lincoln, not as a partisan, but as a 
citizen's candidate, to save the Union. Grant brought his 
hand down emphatically on the strap arm of his camp-chair. 
" They can't do it ! They can't compel me to do it ! " 

"Have you said this to the President?" asked Colonel 
Eaton. 

" No," said Grant, " I have not thought it worth while to 
assure the President of my opinion. I consider it as import- 
ant for the cause that he should be elected as that the army 
should be successful in the field." 

Lincoln's friends took the situation at this period more 
seriously than he. Their alarm is graphically pictured in the 
following letter from Leonard Swett to his wife. It was 
probably written toward the end of August : 

AsTOR House, New York, 
Monday, , 1864. 

My Dear Wife: The fearful things in relation to the 
country have induced me to stay a week here. T go to 
Washington to-night, and can't see how I can get away from 
there before the last of the week. 

A summary of movements is as follows : 

The malicious foes of Lincoln arc calling or getting up a 
Buffalo convention to supplant him. They are Sumner, 
Wade, Henry Winter Davis, Chase, Fremont, Wilson, etc. 

The Democrats are conspiring to resist the draft. We 
seized this morning three thousand pistols going to Indiana 
for distribution. The war Democrats are trying to make 
the Chicago nominee a loyal man. The peace Democrats are 
trying to get control of the Government, and through al- 
liance with Jefferson Davis, to get control of both armies 
and make universal revolution necessary. 



LINCOLN'S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 20I 

The most fearful things are probable. 

I am acting with Thurlow Weed, Raymond, etc., to try to 
avert. There is not much hope. 

Unless material changes can be wrought, Lincoln's elec- 
tion is beyond any possible hope. It is probably clean gone 
now.* 

Lincoln himself had made up his mind that he would be 
deleatea. What would be his duty then? It was so clear to 
him, that he wrote it down on a slip of paper : 

Executive Mansion^ 
Washington, August 23, 1864. 

This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly 
probable that this administration will not be re-elected. Then 
it will be my duty to so co-operate with the President-elect 
as to save the Union between the election and the inaugura- 
tion; as he will have secured his election on such ground 
that he cannot possibly save it afterward. 

A. Lincoln. t 

He folded the slip, and when the cabinet met, he asked 
the members to put their names on the back. What was in- 
side he did not tell them. In the incessant buffeting of his 
life he had learned that the highest moral experience of 
which a man is capable is standing clear before his own con- 
science. He laid the paper away, a compact with his con- 
science in case of defeat. 

The Democrats had deferred their national convention as 
long as possible, hoping for a military situation wdiich would 
enable them to win the people. They could not have had a 
situation more favorable to their plans. But they miscalcu- 
lated in one vital particular. They took the despair of the 
country as a sign that peace would be welcome even at the 



* Letter loaned by Mr. Leonard Herbert Swett, of Aurora, 111, 
t *' Abraham Lincoln; A History." By Nicolay and Hay. 



202 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

cost of the Union, and they adopted a peace platform. They 
nominated on this platform a candidate vowed to war and to 
the Union, General McClellan. So unpopular was the com- 
bination that General McClellan, in accepting the nomina- 
tion, practically repudiated the platform. 

But at this moment something further interfered to save 
the Administration. Sherman captured Atlanta, and Farra- 
gut took Mobile Bay. " Sherman and Farragut," said Sew- 
ard, " have knocked the bottom out of the Chicago nomina- 
tions." If they had not quite done that, they had at least 
given heart to Lincoln's supporters, who went to work with 
a will to secure his re-election. The following letter by 
Leonard Swett shows something of what was done : 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 8, 1864. 

My Dear Wife: There has never been an instance in 
which Providence has kindly interposed in our behalf in our 
national struggles in so marked and essential manner as in 
the recent Union victories. 

You know I had become very fearful before leaving home. 
When I arrived in New York, I found the most alarming 
depression possessing the minds of all the Republicans, 
Greeley, Beecher, Raymond, Weed ; and all the small poli- 
ticians without exception utterly gave up in despair. Ray- 
mond, the chairman of the National Committee, not only 
gave up, but would do nothing. Nobody would do anything. 
There was not a man doing anything except mischief. 

A movement was organizing to make Mr. Lincoln with- 
draw or call a convention and supplant him. 

I felt it my duty to see if some action could not be inaugu- 
rated. I got Raymond, after great labor, to call the com- 
mittee at Washington three days after I would arrive here, 
and came first to see if Mr. Lincoln understood his danger 
and would help to set things in motion. He understood fully 
the danger of his position, and for once seemed anxious I 
should try to stem the tide bearing him down. When the 



LINCOLN'S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 203 

committee met, they showed entire want of organization and 
had not a dollar of money. 

Maine was calling for speakers. Two men were obtained, 
and I had to advance them a hundred dollars each to go. 

The first gleam of hope was in the Chicago convention. 
The evident depression of the public caused the peace men to 
control that convention, and then, just as the public began 
to shrink from accepting it, God gave us the victory at At- 
lanta, which made the ship right itself, as a ship in a storm 
does after a great wave has nearly capsized it. 

Washburne, of Illinois, a man of great force, came, and 
he and I have been working incessantly. I have raised and 
provided one hundred thousand dollars for the canvass. 

Don't think this is for improper purposes. It is not. 
Speakers have to be paid. Documents have to be sent, and 
innumerable expenses have to be incurred. 

The Secessionists are flooding the Northwest with money. 
Voorhees and Vallandigham are arming the people there, 
and are trying to make the draft an occasion for an uprising. 
We are in the midst of conspiracies equal to the French Rev- 
olution. 

I have felt it my solemn duty under these circumstances 
to stay here. I have been actuated by no other motive than 
that of trying to save our country from further dismember- 
ment and war. People from the West, and our best people, 
say if we fail now the West will surely break off and go with 
the South. Of course that would be resisted, and the re- 
sistance would bring war.* 

All through September and October the preparation for 
the November election continued. The loyal governors of 
the North, men to whom the Union cause owed much more 
than has ever been fully realized, worked incessantly. The 
great orators of the Republican party were set at work, Carl 
Schurz even giving up his opportunity in the army to take 
the platform, and many an officer and private who had in- 
fluence in their communities going home on furloughs to aid 
in electioneering. The most elaborate preparations were 

♦Letter loaned by Mr. Herbert Leonard Swett of Aurora, 111. 



204 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

made for getting the vote of every man, most ot the States 
allowing the soldiers to vote in the field. Where this was not 
arranged for, the War Department did its utmost to secure 
furloughs for the men. Even convalescents from the hospi- 
tals were sent home to vote. 

In this great burst of determined effort Lincoln took little 
part. The country understood, he believed, exactly what 
his election meant. It meant the preservation of the Union 
by force. It meant that he would draft men so long 
as he needed them; that he would suspend the writ of 
habeas corpus, and employ a military tribunal, whenever he 
deemed it necessary. It meant, too, that he would do his ut- 
most to secure an amendment to the Constitution abolishing 
slavery forever, for the platform the Union convention had 
adopted before nominating him contained that plank. He 
could not be persuaded by the cautious and timid to modify 
or obscure this policy. He wanted the people to understand 
exactly what he intended, he said, and whenever he did speak 
or write, it was only to reiterate his principles in his pe- 
culiarly plain, unmistakable language. Nor would he allow 
any interference with the suffrage of men in office. They 
must vote as they pleased. " My wish is," he wrote to the 
postmaster of Philadelphia, who had been accused of trying 
to control the votes of his subordinates, " that you will do 
just as you think fit with your own suffrage in the case, and 
not constrain any of your subordinates to do other than as he 
thinks fit with his." 

Thus when the election finally came off, on November 8, 
there was not a man of any intelligence in the country who 
did not know^ exactly what he was voting for, if he voted for 
Lincoln. What these men thought of him the work of that 
day showed. Out of 233 electoral votes, General McClellan 
received twenty-one, 212 being for Lincoln. 1'he oppor- 
tunity to finish the task was now his. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

Lincoln's work in the winter of 1864-65 — his second 

inauguration 

Out of the election Lincoln got profound satisfaction. 
He had striven to his utmost to let the people know what he 
was trying to do — this overwhelming vote for him coming 
after the dire discouragement of the summer, proved that 
they understood him and were with him. " I am deeply 
thankful to God for tins approval of the people," he told a 
band of serenaders. But there was something beside personal 
triumph in his reflections on the elections. Since the he- 
ginning of the war Lincoln bad repeatedly told the people 
that Republican institutions were at stake. In his first ad- 
dress to Congress, July 4, 1861, he said : " Our popular gov- 
ernment has often been callrd an experiment. Two points 
in it our people have already settled — the successful estab- 
lishing and the successful administering of it. One still re- 
mains — its successful maintenance against a formidable in- 
ternal attempt to overthrow it." 

Three years of internal wc.v had not been able to unseat 
the government. But wliat would be the effect of a presiden- 
tial election added to war? The warmest friends of repub- 
Hcan institutions feared that the strain would be too great. 

" Tt has long been a grave question," said T>incoln 
a few days after the election, '* whetlier any go\-crnment, 
not too strong for the liberties of its people, can be strong 
enough to maintain its existence in great emergencies. On 
this point the present rebellion bt-'^-'neht our republic to a 

205 



2o6 f.JFE OF LINCOLN 

severe test, and a presidential election occurring in regular 
course during the rebellion, added not a little to the strain. 
*' If the loyal people united were put to the utmost of 
their strength by the rebellion, must they not fail when 
divided and partially paralyzed by a political war among 
themselves? But the election was a necessity. We cannot 
have free government without elections; and if the rebel- 
lion could force us to forego or postpone a national elec- 
tion, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and 
ruined us. ''' "''' * But the election, along with its in- 
cidental and undesirable strife, has done good too. It has 
demonstrated that a people's government can sustain a na- 
tional election in the midst of a great civil war. Until now, 
it has not been known to the world that this was a possi- 
bility." 

Another fact vital to Mr. Lincoln's policy was proved by 
the election. The North was far from exhaustion in '' the 
most important branch of national resources— that of liv- 
ing men." 

'' While it is melancholy to reflect,"' the President 
said in his December address to Congress, " that the war 
had filled so many graves, and carried mourning to so 
many hearts, it is some relief to know that compared with 
the surviving, the fallen have been so few. Wliile corps, 
and divisions, and brigades, and regiments have formed, 
and fought, and dwindled, and gone out of existence, a great 
majority of the men who comjwscd them are still living. 
The same is true of the naval service. The election returns 
prove this. So many voters could not else be found. The 
States regularly holding elections, both now and four years 
ago . . . cast 3,982,011 votes now, against 3,870,222 
cast then; showing an aggregate now of 3,982,011. To 
this is to be added 33,762 cast now in the new States of 
Kansas and Nevada, which States did not vote in i860; thus 
swelling the aggregate to 4,015,773. and the net increase 
during the three years and a half of war, to 145,551. . 
To this again should be added the number of all soldiers in 
the field from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, 



HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 ^o; 

Delaware, Indiana, Illinois, and California, who by the laws 
of those States, could not vote away from their homes, rind 
which number cannot be less than 90,000. Nor yet is tliis all. 
The number in organized Territories is triple now what it 
was four years ago, while thousands, white and lilack, join 
us as the national arms press back the insurgent lines. So 
much is shown, affirmatively and negatively by the election. 
" It is not material to inquire how the increase has been 
produced, or to show that it would have been greater but 
for the war, which is probably true. The important fact 
/emains demonstrated that we have more men now than we 
had when the war began; that we are not exhausted, nor in 
process of exhaustion; that we are gaining strength, and 
may, if need be, maintain the contest indefinitely. This as 
to men. Material resources are now more complete and 
abundant than ever." 

Approved by the people, convinced that the institutions 
of the country had successfully resisted the worst strain 
which could be given them, inexhaustible resources at his 
command, Lincoln took up his task. To put an end to 
the armed resistance to the union was the first duty. This 
had got to be done by war not by negotiation. He put it 
plainly to Congress in December: 

" On careful consideration of all the evidence accessi- 
ble, it seems to me that no attempt at negotiation with the 
insurgent leader could result in any good. He would ac- 
cept nothing short of severance of the Union — precisely 
what we will not and cannot give. His declarations to this 
effect are explicit and oft repeated. He does not attempt 
to deceive us. He affords us no excuse to deceive our- 
selves. He cannot voluntarily re-accept the Union ; we can- 
not voluntarily yield it. Between him and us the issue 
is distinct, simple, and inflexible. It is an issue which can 
only be tried by war, and decided by victorv. Tf we yield, 
we are beaten; if the Southern people fail him, he is beaten. 
Either way it would be the victory and defeat following 
war." 



208 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

By this time the boundaries of the Confederacy had been 
so narrowed, their territory so divided by invading armies 
that it seemed to all observers that they must soon yield. 
The Mississippi was open and the territory on each side 
practically under federal control. Louisiana was under 
military government. Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee 
were so cleared of troops that they had produced fair crops. 
Three ports, Norfolk, Fernandina and Pensacola, were 
opened on December i to commercial intercourse except- 
ing of course " persons, things and information contra- 
band of war." Grant held Lee and the bulk of the Con- 
federate army at Richmontl. Sherman who had taken 
Atlanta in August had marched three hundred miles di- 
rectly through the Confederate country destroying every- 
thing as he went. Nobody knew just then where he would 
come out but it was certain he could be counted on to 
hold the Confederate force under Johnston in check. Be- 
sides the armies under Lee and Johnston there were other 
smaller forces holding positions, but it was evident that 
if Lee and Johnston were defeated, the surrender of these 
smaller forces was inevitable. The Confederate navy, too, 
had been destroyed by this time. The task seemed short, 
yet such was the courage, the resourcefulness, the audacity 
in attack and defense which the Confederates had shown 
from the beginning of the war that Mr. Lincoln was the 
last man in the North t(^ relax efforts. Although he had 
an army of nearly a million men enrolled at the time of his 
re-election, on December 19. he called for 300.000 volunteers 
to serve for one, two or three years. 

A week after this call Sherman " came out " and ])re- 
sented the country Savannah as a Christmas gift. The 
letter Lincoln wrote him, is worthy to be placed beside the 
one he wrote to Grant after Vicksburg: 



HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1S64-5 209 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 26, 1864. 

My Dear General Sherman: 

Many, many thanks for your Christmas gift, the captuie 
of Savannah. 

When you were about leaving Atlanta for the Atlantic 
coast, I was anxious, if not fearful; but feeling that you 
were the better judge, and remembering that " nothing 
risked, nothing gained," 1 did not interfere. Now. the 
undertaking being a success, the honor is all yi^urs; for 1 
believe none of us went further than to acquiesce. 

And taking the work of General Thomas into the count, 
as it should be taken, it is indeed a great success. Not 
only does it afiford the obvious and immediate military ad- 
vantages; but in showing to the world that your army could 
be divided, putting the stronger part to an important new 
service, and yet leaving enough to vanquish the old oppos- 
ing force of the whole, — Hood's army, — it brings those who 
sat in darkness to see a great light. But wdiat next ? 

I suppose it will be safe if I leave General Grant and 
yourself to decide. 

Please make my grateful acknowledgments to your whole 
army — officers and men. 

Yours very truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

Although the great majority of the country agreed with 
Mr. Lincoln that the issue between North and South " could 
only be tried by war, and decided by victory," advocates of 
peace conferences still nagged the President, begging that 
if they were allowed to go South or if commissioners from 
the South were allowed to come North everything could 
be adjusted. Among these peace-makers was Francis P. 
Blair, Sr. He knew the Soutli well, he believed h.onestly 
enough, no doubt, that mediation would be successful. 
Finally at the end of December the president gave him a 
(14) 



2IO LIFE OF LINCOLN 

pass through the Hues. Blair saw President Davis and from 
liini received a letter saying that if Blair would promise 
that a confederate commissioner, minister or other agent 
would be received by President Lincoln he would appoint 
one at once " with a view to secure peace to the two coun- 
tries." 

Mr, Lincoln answered: 

" You having shown me Mr. Davis's letter to you of 
the 1 2th instant, you may say to him that I have con- 
stantly been, am now, and shall continue ready to receive 
any Lgent whom he. or any other influential person now 
resisting the national authority, may informally send to 
me, with the view of securing peace to the people of our 
one common country." 

It is evident from the letters of the two leaders that 
neither yielded on the essential point at issue. Jefferson 
Davis recognized " two countries," Abraham Lincoln " one 
common country." The upshot of Mr. Blair's mediation 
was that President Davis sent three commissioners, Alex- 
ander H. Stephens, R. M. T. Hunter and John A. Camp- 
bell, all members of the Confederate government, to Grant's 
headquarters for conference. Lincoln sent Seward to meet 
the commissioners with instructions that three things were 
indispensable to mediation : 

1. The restoration of the national authority through- 
out all the States. 

2. No receding bv the executive of the LTnited State? 
on the slavery (|uestii)n from the position assumed thereon 
in the late annual message to Congress, and in preceding 
documents. 

3. No cessation of hostilities short of an end of the 
waV and the disbanding of all forces hostile to the gov- 
ernment. 



HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 211 

Before Seward had met the commission Lincohi decided 
to join him and a meeiing was arranged at Fortress Mon- 
roe, the Confederate envoys being conducted to the steamer 
River Queen where Mr. Lincohi and Mr. Seward were 
quartered. 

The meeting of the men, ah of them acquaintances in 
earher days, was cordial and they began and ended their 
conference in an entirely friendly mood. But from the 
outset it was evident that nothing would come of it. There 
was but one way to end the war, Mr. Lincoln told them 
frankly, and that was for those who were resisting the 
laws of the Union to cease their resistance. He would 
grant no armistice — would in no way recognize the States — 
so long as they were in arms. He would make no promises 
as to reconstruction after the war had ceased until they 
bad given him a pledge of reunion and of cessation of resist- 
ance. Mr. Hunter attempted to argue this point with him. 
There was precedent, he said, for an executive entering into 
agreement with persons in arms against public authority. 
Charles I. of England repeatedly recognized the peoi)le 
in arms against him in this way. " I do not profess to be 
posted in history," replied Mr. Lincoln. '' On all sucli 
matters I will turn you over to Seward. All I distinctly 
recollect about the case of Charles is that he lost his head." 

But while Lincoln held firmly to what he regarded as 
the essentials to peace, he did not hesitate to give the com- 
.nissioners some very good advice. " If I resided in Geor- 
gia, with my present sentiments," Mr. Stephens reports 
him as saying, " I'll tell you what I would do if I were in 
your place. I would go home and get the Governor of 
the State to call the legislature together, and get them to 
recall all the State troops from the war; elect senators and 
members to Cono-ress, and ratifv this constitutional amend- 
men* Prospectively, so as to take effect — say in five years. 



212 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Such a ratification would be valid, in my opinion. I have 
looked into the subject, and think such a prospective ratifi- 
cation would be valid. Whatever may have been the views 
of your people before the war, they must be convinced now 
that slavery is doomed. It cannot last long in any event, 
and the best course, it seems to me, for your public men 
to pursue would be to adopt such a policy as will avoid, 
as far as possible, the evils of immediate emancipation. 
This would be my course, if I were in your place." 

And so the Hampton Roads conference ended without 
other result than a renewed confirmation of what Lincoln 
had contended from the beginning of the agitation for 
peace measures — that the South would never grant until 
defeated what he claimed as vital to any negotiation — a 
recognition of the Union. 

It was understood by the country that Mr. Lincoln's re- 
election meant not only a continuation of the war but the 
emancipation of the slaves by a constitutional amendment. 
The Emancipation Proclamation was never intended by 
the president for anything but a military measure. He 
had been careful to state this in delivering it and when 
called upon to retract it by a large body of the North be- 
cause it turned the war into a contest to " free negroes," 
lie had gone to great pains to explain his view. Thus in 
a letter written in August '63 to his political friends in 
Illinois, he said : 

" You dislike the Emancipation Proclamation, and ])er- 
haps would have it retracted. You say it is unconstitu- 
tional. I think differently. I think the Constitution invests 
its commander-m^hief with the law of war in time of war. 
The most that can be said — if so much — is that slaves are 
I)roperty. Is there — has there ever been — any question 
that by the law of war, projierty, both of enemies and 
friends, may be taken when needed? And is it not needed 



HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1.S64-5 21 



o 



whenever taking it helps us, or hurts the enemy? Armies, 
the world over, destroy enemies' property when tliey can- 
not use it; and e\-en destmy their own to keep it from the 
enemy. Civihzed helhgerents do all in their power to 
help themselves or hurt the enemy, except a few things 
regarded as barbarous or cruel. Among the exceptions 
are the massacre of vanquished foes and non-combatants, 
male and female. 

" But the proclamation, as law, either is valid or is not 
valid. If it is not valid, it needs no retraction. If it is 
valid, it cannot be retracted any more than the dead can 
be brought to life. Some of you profess to think its re- 
traction would operate favoralily for the Union. Why bet- 
ter after the retraction than before the issue. There was 
more than a year and a half of trial to suppress the rebellion 
before the proclamation issued; the last one hundred days 
of which passed under an explicit notice that it was com- 
ing, unless averted by those in revolt returning to their 
allegiance. The war has certainly progressed as favorably 
for us since the issue of the proclamation as before. I 
know, as fully as one can know the opinions of others, 
that some of the commanders of our armies in the field, who 
have given us our most important successes, believe the 
emancipation policy and the use of the colored troops con- 
stitute the heaviest blow yet dealt to the rebellion, and that 
at least one of these important successes could not have 
been achieved when it was but for the aid of black soldiers. 
Among the commanders holding these views are some who 
have never had any affinity with what is called Abolition- 
ism, or with Republican party politics, but who hold them 
purely as military opinions. I submit these opinions as 
being entitled to souie w^eight against the objections often 
urged that emancipation and arming the blacks are unwise 
as militar}' measures, and were not adopted as such in good 
faith. 

" You say you will not fight to free negroes. Some of 
them seem willino- to fio;ht for vou ; but no matter. Fight 
you, tlien. exclusively, to save the Union. I issued the 
proclamation on purpose to aid you in saving the Union. 
Whenever you shall have conquered all resistance to the 



2 14 ^^^^ ^^ LINCOLN 

Union, if I shall urge you to continue fighting, it will be 
an apt time tlien for you to declare you will not fight to 
free negroes. 

" I thought that in your struggle for the Union, to 
whatever extent the negroes should cease helping the enemy, 
to that extent it weakened the enemy in his resistance to 
you. Do you think differently? I thought that whatever 
negroes can he got to do as soldiers, leaves just as much 
less for white soldiers to do in saving the Union. Does it 
appear otherwise to you? But negroes, like other people, 
act upon motives. Why should they do anything for us 
if we will do nothing for them? If they stake their lives 
for us they must be prompted by the strongest motive, even 
the promiise of freedom. And the promise, being made, 
must be kept." 

Mr. Lincoln believed that as soon as the war was over, 
the proclamation would become void. Voters would have to 
decide then what slaves it freed — whether only those who 
had under it made an effort for their freedom and had 
come into the Union lines or all of those in the States and 
parts of States in rebellion at the time it was issued. Mr. 
Lincoln inclined to the former view. But even if the latter 
interpretation was decided on, there would still be many 
slaves in the country — the institution if weakened would 
still exist. It became plainer every day to him that some 
measure must be devised removing finally and forever the 
evil root from which the nation's long and sorrowful strug- 
gle had grown. Slavery must end with the war. The 
only complete and irrevocable method to attain this was 
a constitutional amendment abolishing it forever. In De- 
cember, i(S6^, an amendment of this character had been 
proposed in the House and in the January after a similar 
one in the Senate. The latter passed, but the House failed 
to give the requisite two-thirds majority. INIr. Lincoln was 
convinced nevertheless that the people if asked directly to 



HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864; ojc^ 

vote on the subject would approve the amendment and be- 
foF' the meetings of the RepubHcan Convention in June, 
'64, he sent for the chairman of the National Committee, 
Senator Morgan of New York. " I want yon," he said, " to 
mention in your speech, when }'on call the convention to 
order as its keynote, and to put into the platform, as the 
keystone, the amendment of the Constitution abolishing and 
prohibiting slavery forever." It was done, the third article 
of the platform reading: 

Resolved, That as slavery was the cause, and now con- 
stitutes the strength, of this rebellion, and as it nnist be, 
ahvays and everywhere, hostile to the principles of repub- 
lican government, justice and the national safety demand 
its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the re- 
public; and that wdiile we uphold and maintain the acts 
and proclamations by which the government, in its own 
defense, has aimed a death-blow at this gigantic evil, we 
are in favor, furthermore, of such an amendment to the 
Constitution, to be made by the people in conformnty with 
its provisions, as shall terminate and forever prohibit the 
existence of slavery within the limits of the jurisdiction of 
the United States. 

When in December '64 Lincoln addressed Congress for 
the first time after his election he reminded them that the 
people in electing him had voted for an amendment prohib- 
iting slavery : — 

*' Althougli the present is the same Congress" (which 
defeated the bill of Dec, '6t,) he said, "and nearly the 
same members, and without questioning the wisdom or 
patriotism of those who stood in opposition. I venture to 
recommend the reconstruction and passage of the measure 
at the present session. Of course the abstract question is 
not changed, but an intervening election shows, almost cer- 
tainly, that the next Congress will pass the measure if this 
does not. Hence there is only a c[uestion of time as to 



2i6 1-IFE OF LINCOLN 

when the proposed amendment will go to the States for 
tlieir action. And as it is to so go, at all events, may we 
not agree that the sooner the better ? It is not claimed that 
the election has imposed a duty on members to change their 
views or their votes any further than as an additional ele- 
ment to be considered, their judgment may be affected by 
it. It is the voice of the people now for the first time 
heard upon the question. In a great national crisis like 
ours, unanimity of action among those seeking a common 
end is very desirable — almost indispensable. And yet no 
approach to such unanimity is attainable unless some defer- 
ence shall be paid to the will of the majority, simply because 
it is the will of the majority. In this case the common end 
is the maintenance of the Union, and among the means to 
secure that end, such will, through the election, is almost 
clearly declared in favor of such constitutional amendment." 

After the bill was introduced he followed its course with 
greatest care working adroitly and constantly in its interests. 
Its passage on January 31 was a genuine satisfaction to 
him. " This finishes the job," he said joyfully, and that 
night he said to a band of serenaders, that he thought the 
measure was a very fitting if not an indispensable adjunct to 
the winding up of the great difficulty. He wished the 
reunion of all the States perfected, and so effected as to 
remove all causes of disturbance in the future; and, to at- 
tain this end, it was necessary that the original disturb- 
ing cause should, if ])ossible, be rooted out. He thought 
all would bear him witness that he had never shrunk from 
doing all that he could to eradicate slavery, by issuing an 
emancipation proclamation. But that proclamation falls 
short of what the amendment will be when fully consum- 
mated. A question might be raised whether the proclama- 
tion was legally valid. It might be urged, that it only 
aided those that came into our lines, and that it was inopera- 
tive as to those who did not give themselves up; or that it 
would have no effect upon the children of slaves born here- 



HIS WORK IN Tin: WINTER OF 1S64-5 217 

after; in fact, it would be urged that it did not meet the 
evil. But this amendment is a king's cure-all for all evils. 
It winds the whole thing up. He would repeat that it was 
the fitting if not the indispensable adjunct to the con- 
summation of the great game we are playing. He could 
not but congratulate all present — himself, the country, 
and the whole w^orld — upon this great moral victory. 

The third matter which engrossed Lincoln after his elec- 
tion was reconstruction. From tlie very beginning of the 
war he had watched for opportunities, however small, to 
bring back into the Union disaffected districts and individ- 
uals. He was not particular about the way in which, the 
wanderer returned. It was enough in Mr. Lincoln's opin- 
ion if he acknowledged the Union. Portions of Tennessee, 
Arkansas and Louisiana were put under military rule in the 
first six months of 1862 in order to encourage the Union 
sympathizers to keep up a semblance of republican gov- 
ernment and whenever the President had a chance he 
encouraged the avowed Unionists in these States to get 
together so as to form a nucleus for action when the oppor- 
tunity offered. 

By the end of 1863 Mr. Lincoln believed that the time had 
come for him publicly to offer protection and pardon to 
those persons and districts which had been in rebellion, but 
which had had enough of the experience and were ready 
to come back. He believed from what he could learn that 
there was a considerable number of these. Accordingl}- in 
December in sending in his annual message to Congress he 
issued a " proclamation of amnesty and reconstruction." 
This proclamation offered pardon to all save the persons 
who had led the rebellion upon their taking an oath to sup- 
port the Constitution and accept the emancipation procla- 
mation. It also promised to protect any State government 
formed in accordance with a few simple and just regulations 



2iS LIFE OF LINCOLN 

which he set forth very clearly. A few weeks after the 
proclamation was issued, the President, anxious to know 
how it was working, sent General D. E. Sickles on an in- 
spection tour. 

" Please ascertain at each place," he wrote him, " what 
is being done, if anything, for reconstruction ; how 
the amnesty proclamation works — -if at all; what prac- 
tical hitches, if any, there are about it; whether deserters 
come in from the enemy, what number has come in at 
each point since the amnesty, and whether the ratio of their 
arrival is any greater since than before the amnesty ; what 
deserters report generally, and particularly whether, and 
to what extent, the amnesty is known within the rebel lines." 

As the months went on Lincoln found that in spite of the 
fact that efforts at forming governments were making and 
that the pardon was being accepted by many persons there 
was strong and bitter opposition even in the Republican 
party to his plans of reconstruction. No little of this op- 
position was resentment that the President had worked out 
the plan alone and had announced it without consulting 
anybody. Congress said that he was usurping their rights. 
Many felt that the pardon Lincoln offered was too generous. 
Rebels should be punished, not pardoned, they argued. 
Many declared the States which had seceded could not be 
allowed to reorganize without congressional action. At 
the same time the President was constantly harassed by con- 
tests between the military and civil authorities in the States 
which were trying to organize. These contests seemed so 
unreasonable and so selfish to Mr. Lincoln that he wrote 
some very plain letters to the persons concerned. 

" Few things since T have been here," he wrote General 
Hurlbut in November, " have im])ressed me more painfully 
that what for four or five months past has appeared a bitter 



HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 18645 219 

military opposition to the new State government of Louisi- 
ana. ... A very fair proportion of the people of Louisiana 
h"\'e inaugurated a new State government, making an excel- 
lent new Constitution — better for the poor black man than 
we have in Illinois. This was done under military protection, 
directed by me, in the belief, still sincerely entertained, that 
with nich a nucleus around which to build we could get 
the State into position again sooner than otherwise. In 
this belief a general promise of protection and support, ap- 
plicable alike to Louisiana and other States, was given in 
the last annual message. During the formation of the new 
government and Constitution they were supported by nearly 
every loyal person, and opposed by every secessionist. And 
this support and this opposition, from the respective stand- 
points of the parties, was perfectly consistent and logical. 
Every Unionist ought to wish the new government to suc- 
ceed : and every disunionist must desire it to fail. Its failure 
would gladden the heart of Slidell in Europe, and of every 
enemy of the old flag in the world. Every advocate of 
slavery naturallv desires to see blasted and crushed the 
liberty promised the black man by the new Constitution. 
But why General Canby and General Hurlbut should join 
on the same side is to me incomprehensible. ..." 

After his re-election, in spite of all opposition. Lincoln 
steadily supported the new State governments. His practical 
common sense in dealing with a difificult problem never 
showed to better advantage than in the plan of reconstruc- 
tion he had offered and was trying. It was not the only plan 
he kept repeating, but it was accomplishing something, was 
not this something better than nothing? If it proved bad 
he would change it for a better one, if a better was offered. 
but until it was shown that it was adverse to the interests of 
the people he was trying to bring back into the Ll"riion he 
should follow it. As for the abstract ([uestion over which a 
great part of the North was quarrelling, whether the seceded 
States were in the Union or out of it. he would not consider 
it. It was " bad as the basis of a controversy " he declared 



220 ^IFE OF LINCOLN 

^ind " good for nothing at all—a merely pernicious abstrac* 



tion. 



"We all agree," he continued, " that the seceded States, so 
called, are out of their proper practical relation with the 
Union, and that the sole object of the government, civil and 
military, in regard to those States is to again get them into 
the proper practical relation. I believe that it is not only pos- 
sible, hut in fact easier, to do this without deciding or even 
considering whether these States have ever been out of the 
Union, than with it. Finding themselves safely at home, it 
would be utterly immaterial whether they had ever been 
abroad. Let us all join in doing the acts necessary to restor- 
ing the proper practical relations between these States and the 
Union, and each forever after innocentlv indulge his own 
opinion whether in doing the acts he brought the States from 
without into the Union, or only gave them proper assistance, 
they never having been out of it." 

As the winter passed into the spring the President saw 
ever> day that the end was approaching and as he realized 
that at last the mighty problem over which he had agonized 
for so many months was unfolding, as he saw not only that 
the primary object for which he had been struggling— the 
Union— was to be attained but that even before this end 
was attained the evil which had caused all the trouble was to 
be eradicated, he experienced a lofty exaltation, a fresh real- 
ization that the will of God prevails in human affairs. 
From the time of his election he had been animated by a 
simple theory:— If we do right, God will be with us and if 
God is with us we cannot fail. He had struggled to see 
what was right and no man or men had been able to bring to 
bear pressure heavy enough to turn him from a step he had 
concluded was right. Yet as the days went on he saw his 
cause fail again and again. Many times it seemed on the 
verge of destruction. He pondered deeply over this seem- 
ing contradiction. Was he wrong in his own judgment of 




LINCOLN IN 1864. AGE 55 
riiHu ph^jtograph by Brady in the War Department Collection. 



HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 221 

what was right or could it be that God had some end in view 
different from either that of the North or South? Late in 
1862, evidently to help clear up his mind, he wrote down on 
a slip of paper a statement of the puzzling problem. His 
■ secretaries later found it and published it in their history. 

" The will of God prevails. In great contests each party 
claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may 
be, and one must be. wrong. God cannot be for and against 
the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war 
it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different 
from the purpose of either party; and yet the human instru- 
mentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adapta- 
tion to effect his purpose. I am almost ready to say that this 
is probably true; that God wills this contest, and wills tha> 
it shall not end yet. By his mere great power on the mind? 
of the now contestants, he could have either saved or de- 
stroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the con- 
test began. And. having begun, he could give the final vic- 
tory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds." 

As time went on and his conviction that his cause was 
right grew stronger, in spite of the reverses he suffered, he 
began to feel that God's purpose was to wipe out slavery and 
that the war was a divine retribution on North as well as 
South for the toleration of slavery. In a letter written in 
April, 1864, he expressed this view: 

" . . .At the end of three years' struggle, the nation's 
condition is not what either party, or any man, devised or 
expected. God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending 
seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great wrong, 
and wills also that we of the North, as well as you of the 
South, shall pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, 
impartial history will find therein new cause to attest and 
revere the justice and goodness of God." 

By the spring of 1865 this explanation of the continuation 
of the war fully possessed him and in his inaugural he laid it 



2 22 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

before the people in a few solemn, beautiful sentences — a 
prophet's cry to a nation bidding them to complete the task 
the Lord God Almighty had set before them, and to expiate 
in humility their sins. 

"... The Almighty has his own purposes," he said. 
*' ' Woe unto the world because of offenses ! for it must needs 
be that offenses come ; but woe to that man by whom the of- 
fense Cometh.' If we shall suppose that American slavery 
is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, 
must needs come, but which, having continued through his 
appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he gives 
to both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due 
to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein 
any departure from those divine attributes which the be- 
lievers in a living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do 
we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge 
of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it 
continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman's two 
hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and 
until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid 
by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thou- 
sand years ago, so still it must be said, ' The judgments of 
the Lord are true and righteous altogether.' 

"With malice toward none; with charity for all; with 
firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let 
us strive on to finish the work we are in. tf» bind up the na- 
tion's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the bat- 
tle, and for his widow, and his orphan — to do all which may 
achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among our- 
selves, and with all nations." 

It was in this lofty spirit that Abraham Lincoln entered 
on his second term. Every act of the few days of that 
term which he served was in full harmony with the words 
of his inaugural. Although the criticism on him for par- 
doning prisoners of \\ar was at that time very bitter, even 
General Grant protesting against his broad exercise of the 
pardoning power, he could be persuaded easily to set free 



HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 22 



o 



any man or men for whom any honest official would vouch. 
Honorable John B. Henderson, then in the United States 
Senate from Missouri, relates for this work his experience 
in securing pardons from Lincoln in the spring of 1865. 

" From 1862 to 1865/' says Mr. Henderson, " the con- 
ditions were such in Missouri, that every man was obliged 
to espouse actively either the Union or the Confederate 
cause. No man really was safe out of one army or another. 
Property was insecure, and if a person attempted to remain 
neutral he was suspected by both Confederates and Feder- 
als, and was liable to be arrested by either side, and his prop- 
erty destroyed. During the progress of the war a large 
number of Missourians had been arrested by the Federals 
and were confined in the military prisons, many of them at 
St. Louis where the McDowell Medical College had been 
taken and used for the purpose, and some at Alton, Illinois, 
about twenty-five miles above St. Louis on the river. The 
friends and relations of many of these military pri^soners 
appealed to me to secure their release, or to save them from 
w^hatever sentence had been pronounced. These sentences, 
of course, varied. In flagrant cases where they were con- 
victed of acting as spies, or of prosecuting guerilla warfare, 
the death sentence was sometimes ordered but not often 
inflicted. Others were condemned to prison for life or dur- 
ing the war. Few of the death sentences were ever inflicted 
There was a tacit understanding among the military au- 
thorities that while a show of severity be kept up it was only 
under extreme circumstances that a prisoner should be exe- 
cuted. Towards the close of the winter of 1864-65, I found 
that I had a large number of these applications for clemency 
and pardon on hand. 

" Congress adjourned on March 4. 1865. and ]\Ir. Lincoln 
on that day was inaugurated for a second term. An extra 
session of the Senate only was called immediately to act on 
presidential nominations, but it continued in session until 
about the i8th of March. I was anxious to clear up as many 
as possible of these imprisonment cases before leaving for 
home. I accordingly had mv clerk classify them, according 



2 24 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

to the evidence in each case, giving the name of the pris- 
oner, the character of his offense, together with a statement 
of the proofs or evidence against him. 1 caused them to 
be divided into three classes. Into the first class I put those 
of whose innocence I had but little doubt; into the second 
class those whose innocence was more doubtful, but whom 
I believed it would be safe and proper, under the circum- 
stances, to release; the third class consisted of those who 
ought still to be retained in confinement. As I had very 
little time before leaving for the West, I took the first and 
second classes to the President and asked their pardon and 
release. 

" Mr. Lincoln looked over the list and then said : ' Do 
you mean to tell me, Henderson, that you wish me to let 
loose all these people at once ? ' 

" ' Yes,' I said, ' I believe it can be easily done.' 

" ' But,' said Mr. Lincoln, ' I have no time to examine 
the evidence. I am constantly reproached for my too abun-- 
dant charity, and what would be said if I should turn loose 
so many sinners at once. And again what would be the in- 
fluence in Missouri? ' 

" * I believe, Mr. President,' I said, * that the influence 
would be most beneficial. The war is nearly over. The day 
for generosity and kindness has come.' 

" * Do you really think so ? ' said the President. 

" * Yes, the rebellion is broken ; the rebels will soon be 
returning to their homes if permitted to do so. What I es- 
l^ecially wish is to prevent in my State a prolonged guerilla 
warfare. The rebels are already conquered in war. Let 
us try charity and kindness rather than repression and sever- 
ity. The policy of mercy will prove to be a wise reconstruc- 
tion measure.' 

" * I hoj^e you are right,' said the President ; ' but I have 
no time to examine this evidence. If I sign this list as a 
whole, will you be responsible for the future good behavior 
of the men ? * 

" ' Yes,' I said. 

" * Then I will take the risk and sign it," said the Presi- 
dent. And after inserting, in his own hand-writing, the 
word * pardoned ' after the name of each person who had 



HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 225 

been convicted of offenses by military commission, be sif^ncd 
tbe general order of release, and returned tlie paper to me. 

*' ' Thank you, Mr. President; but that is not all; I have 
another list here.' 

" ' I hope you are not going to make me let loose another 
lot?' 

" * Yes. I am not quite so sure of the merits of this list, 
but I believe the men are not dangerous, and it will be good 
policy to let them go. I think it safer and better to err on 
the side of mercy.' 

" * Yes,' said Mr. Lincoln ; ' but you know I am charged 
with making too many mistakes on the side of mercy.' 

" ' Mr. President, my argument for this is the same as 
in the other case. The war is substantially over. The guilt 
of these men is at least doubtful And mercy is and must 
be after all the policy of peace.' 

" * I guess you are right,' said Mr. Lincoln. 

" * Yes,' I said, * I am sure I am, and I think that you 
ought to sign it.' 

" ' Well, ril be durned if I don't,' said the President, and 
he signed his name after inserting the word * pardoned ' 
over the name of those laboring under conviction. 

" This was the only time that I ever heard Mr. Lincoln use 
a word vrhich approached profanity. 

" * Now, Henderson,' he said, as he handed the list back 
to me, ' remember you are responsible to me for these men. 
If they do not behave, I shall have to put you in prison for 
their sins.' " 

A few days after this interview with Mr. Henderson the 
President decided to take a holiday — the first he had taken 
since he entered the White House in i86r. Boarding a 
river steamer -with a few friends he went to City Point on 
the James River, where General Grant had his head(|uar- 
ters. Here he co'jld not possibly be reached by the office- 
seekers incident to a new term and here, too, he would be 
near the operations which he felt would soon end the war. 

Grant's headquarters at this time were in a group of cot- 



226 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

tages on a high bkiff at the juncture of the Appomattox diid 
James Rivers. It was a point which commanded a view of 
a wide and active scene, including many places made his- 
toric by the operations of the four years just past. To the 
north were the flats of Bermuda Hundred, with the con- 
spicuous look-out tower, with . tents and barracks and 
wharves; beyond the wooded slopes of Malvern Hill. Look- 
^.ng eastward across the great bay w'hich the confluence of 
the two rivers makes here, could be seen Harrison's Landing. 
On every side wharves ran out from the shore. Here night 
and day steamers, transports, gun boats w^ere coming and 
going, unloading men and supplies, carrying away wounded 
and prisoners. The President's little steamer anchored at 
the foot of the bluff and here he lived for some ten days. 
It had been intended that on the day of his arrival at City 
Point, March 25, the President should review a portion of 
the troops on the Petersburg line, but that morning the final 
struggle between besieged and besiegers w-as begun by the 
unexpected attack of the Confederates on Fort Stedman. A 
terrific battle followed and the review was deferred. Com- 
parative quiet followed this attack for some five days and in 
this interim Lincoln visited the lines behind Petersburg wath 
Grant several times to review the troops and watch the op- 
erations, and he spent considerable time sailing up and down 
the river with Admiral Porter on his flag-ship. 

Tw'o davs after tLc President reached Citv Point Sher- 
man, whose army nad since the fall of Atlanta, marched 
to the sea and as far northward as Goldsboro, North Caro- 
lina, and was now expecting soon to meet the Confederate 
army under Johnston, came to City Point to confer with 
Grant and Lincoln. Both generals agreed that their work 
was nearly over. Imt each thought he must fight another 
great battle. The President urged them to avoid this if pos- 
sible. " No more blood-shed," was his repeated counsel. 



HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 186^^5 227 

Grant's final movements l^egan on March 31. Lincoln at 
City Point sat all day in the telegraph ol^ce at headquarters 
as at critical moments he did in Washington, receiving re- 
ports from Grant and sending them on to Stanton, it was 
he who first informed the War Department of Sheridan's 
success at Five Points on April i. It was he who on the 
morning of April 3 wired the Secretary of War that at last 
Petersburg was evacuated and Richmond said to be. A 
few hours later he went at Grant's request to Petersburg 
for a last interview with the general befure lie followed his 
army which was now moving after the retreating Confed- 
erate army. The city had suffered terribly from the long 
siege, many of its houses being destroyed and all being more 
or less riddled by shot and shell. Even to-day a visitor to 
Petersburg is shown house after house where great cannon 
balls are embedded in the walls. As Lincoln rode through 
the streets, busy as lie v^as with the stupendous event he 
had so long desired, he noticed the destruction with a sorry 
shake of his head. The talk with Grant was held on the 
porch of a comfortable house still standing, and then the 
two parted, Grant to go to Appomattox, Lincoln to City 
Point. 

The news of the abandonment of Richmond on April 2 
had by this time reached City Point. Lincoln's first excla- 
mation on receiving the news was '' I want to see Rich- 
mond." A party was at once arranged and on the morning 
of April 4 he started up the river. The trip must have been 
full of exciting interest to the President, leading as it did 
by a score of places which had been made forever famous 
by the struggles of war which he knew now to be over — 
Malvern Hill, Deep Bottom, Dutch Gap, Va'-ina! It was 
full of real danger, too, for there was no way of knowing 
positively that the stream was free from torpedoes or the 
banks entirely cleared of the enemy. The entrance into 



22S LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Richmond was even more dangerous. Here was the Presi- 
dent of the United States with lour companions and 
a guard of only ten marines, entering on foot a city 
which for four years lie had been doing his utmost to 
capture by force. That city was in a condition of the wild- 
est confusion. The army and government had abandoned 
it. Fire had destroyed a large part of it and was still raging. 
The Federals who had entered the day before had not as 
yet established any effective patrol. A hostile people filled 
the streets and hung from the windows. And yet through 
this chaos of misery, disorganization, and defeat Abraham 
Lincoln walked in safety. More, as it was noised abroad 
that he had come his passage became a triumph. The ne- 
groes full of superstitious veneration for the name of Lin- 
coln flocked about him weeping. " Bres de Lord," cried 
one, " dere is de great Messiah," and throwing himself on 
his knees he kissed the President's feet. It was only after 
a long struggle that the guard was able to conduct Mr. Lin- 
coln from this tumultuous rejoicing crowd and bring him 
safe to the house of Jefferson Davis — now the headquarters 
of the federal troops. 

The President remained two days in Richmond carefully 
going over the situation and discussing the best means of 
restoring Union authority and of dealing with the individ- 
uals who had been in insurrection. The President was em- 
phatic in his opinion. The terms must be liberal. " Get 
them to plowing once," he said in Admiral Porter's pres^ 
ence, " and gathering in their own little crops, eating pop- 
corn at their own firesides, and you can't get them to shoul- 
der a musket again for half a century." Being cheered at 
City Point the day after he left Richmond by a crowd of 
Confederate prisoners, he said again to Admiral Porter: 
" They will never shoulder a nmsket again in anger, and if 
Grant is wise he will leave them their guns to shoot crows 



HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 2jy 

with and their horses to plow with; it would do no harm." 
As to the people of Richmond his one counsel to the military 
governor was to " let them down easy." Nor would he 
while there listen to a word of harshness in the treatment 
of even the leaders of the rebellion. One day when visiting 
Libby Prison, a member of the party remarked to him that 
Jefferson Davis ought to be hung, " Judge not that ye be 
not judged," Charles Sumner heard him quote. No bit- 
terness was in his soul, only a great thankfulness that the 
end seemed so near and a firm determination to regulate 
with mercy all questions of reconstruction. 

Returning to City Point IMr. Lincoln learned that Mr. 
Seward had been thrown from a carriage and injured and 
he resolved to go at once to Washington. He had only just 
reached there when he received word that on April 9 Gen- 
eral Lee had surrendered his army to General Grant at Ap- 
pomattox. This could mean but one thing, the ^^•ar was 
over. No force was now left to the enemy which must not 
surrender ow. hearing that the principal Confederate force 
had laid down its arms. Immediately the President and his 
associates began the glad task of shutting down the vast 
war machinery in operation — the first act being to issue an 
order suspending the draft. 



CHAPTER XXX 

THE END OF THE WAR 

" The war is over." Throughout the breadth of the North 
this was the jubilant cry with which people greeted one an- 
other on the morning of April 14, 1865. For ten days re- 
ports of victories had been coming to them ; Petersburg 
evacuated, Richmond fallen, Jefferson Davis and his cabinet 
fled, Lee surrendered, Mobile captured. Nothing of the 
Confederacy, in short, remained but Johnston's army, and 
it was generally believed that its surrender to Sherman was 
but a matter of hours. How completely the conflict was at an 
end, however, the people of the North had not realized until 
they read in their newspapers, on that Good Friday morn- 
ing the order of the Secretary of War suspending the draft, 
stopping the purchase of military supplies, and removing 
military restrictions from trade. The war was over indeed, 

Such a day of rejoicing as followed the world has rarely 
seen. At Fort Sumter scores of well-known citizens of the 
North, among them Henry Ward Beecher, William Lloyd 
Garrison, General Robert Anderson, and Theodore Tilton, 
raised over the black and shattered pile the flag which four 
years ago Charleston, now lying desolate and wasted, had 
dragged down. 

Cities and towns, hamlets and country road-sides blos- 
somed with flags and bunting. Stock exchanges met to pass 
resolutions. Bells rang. Kvery man who could make a 
speech was on his feet. Tt was a ]\Tillennium Day, restoring 
broken homes, quieting aching hearts, easing distracted 
minds. Even tho.se who mourned — and who could count the 
number whom that dreadful four years had stripped of those 

230 



THE END OF THE WAR 231 

they held dearest? — even those who mourned exulted. Their 
dead had saved a nation, freed a people. And so a subtle joy, 
mingled triumph, resignation, and hope, swept over the 
North. It was with all men as James Russell Lowell wrote to 
his friend Norton that it was with him : " The news, my 
dear Charles is from Heaven. I felt a strange and tender ex- 
altation. I wanted to laugh and I wanted to cry, and ended 
by holding my peace and feeling devoutly thankful." 

One man before all others in the nation felt and showed 
his gladness that day — the President, Abraham Lincoln. For 
weeks now as he had seen the end approaching, little by lit- 
tle he had been thankfully laying aside the ways of war and 
returning to those of peace. His soul, tuned by nature to gen- 
tleness and good-will, had been for four years forced to lead 
in a pitiless war. Now his duties were to " bind up the na- 
tion's wounds ; to care for him who shall have borne the bat- 
tle, and for his widow, and his orphan; " to devise plans by 
which the members of the restored Union could live together 
in harmony, to plan for the future of the four million human 
beings to whom he had given freedom. All those who were 
with him in this period remarked the change in his feelings 
and his ways. He seemed to be aroused to a new sense of 
the beauty of peace and rest, to love to linger in quiet 
spots, and to read over and over with infinite satisfac- 
tion lines of poetry which expressed repose. The perfect 
tranquillity in death seemed especially to appeal to him. 
Mrs. Lincoln once related to her friend. Isaac Arnold, that, 
while at City Point, in April, she was driving one day with 
her husband along the banks of the James, when they passed 
a country grave-yard. " It was a retired place, shaded 
by trees, and early spring flowers were opening on nearly 
every grave. It was so quiet and attractive that they 
stopped the carriage and walked through it. Mr. Lincoln 
seemed thoughtful and impressed. He said : ' Mary, you 



LIFE OP LINCOLN 



are younger than I. You will survive me. When I am 

gone, lay my remains in some quiet place like this.' " 

A few days after this, as he was sailing down the James 

bound for Washington, Charles Sumner, who was in the 

party, was much impressed by the tone and manner in which 

Mr. Lincoln read aloud two or three times a passage from 

Macbeth : 

" Duncan is in his grave; 
After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well; 
Treason has done his worst: nor steel, nor poison. 
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing. 
Can touch him further!" 

There was a marked change in his appearance. All through 
1863 and 1864 his thin face had day by day grown more hag- 
gard, its lines had deepened, its pallor had become a more 
ghastly gray. His eye, always sad when he was in thought, 
had a look of unutterable grief. Through all these months 
Lincoln was, in fact, consumed by sorrow. " I think I shall 
never be glad again," he said once to a friend. But as one by 
one the weights lifted, a change came over him; his form 
straightened, his face cleared, the lines became less accentu- 
ated. " His whole appearance, poise, and bearing had mar- 
vellously changed," says the Hon. James Harlan. " He was 
in fact, transfigured. That indescribable sadness which had 
previously seemed to be an adamantine element of his very 
being, had been suddenly changed for an equally indescriba- 
ble expression of serene joy, as if conscious that the great 
purpose of his life had been achieved." 

Never since he had become convinced that the end of the 
war was near had Mr. Lincoln seemed to his friends more 
glad, more serene, than on the 14th of April. The morning 
was soft and sunny in Washington, and as the spring was 
early in 1865, the Judas-trees and the dogwood were blos- 
soming on the hillsides, the willows were orreen along: the 
Potomac, and in the parks and gardens the lilacs bloomed — 




THE LAST PORTRAIT OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, TAKEN APRIL 9, 1865, THE SUNDAY 

BEFORE HIS ASSASSINATION 

Drawn from a photograph made by Alexander Gardner, ph()t()Kra|)h{>r to the Army of 
the Potomac, while the Pre.sident was sharpening a pencil for his sou Tad. Copyright, 
1894, by Watson Porter. 



234 ^^^^ ^^ LINCOLN 

but the event and results were important. He had no doubt 
that a battle had taken place, or was about being fought, ' and 
Johnston will be beaten, for I had this strange dream again 
last night. It must relate to Sherman; my thoughts are in 
that direction, and / know of no other very important event 
which is likely just nozv to occur.' " 

The greater part of the meeting was taken up with a dis- 
cussion of the policy of reconstruction. How were they to 
treat the States and the men who had tried to leave the 
Union, but who now were forced back into their old rela- 
tions? How could practical civil government be reestab- 
lished ; how could trade be restored between North and 
South; wdiat should be done with those who had led the 
States to revolt ? The President urged his cabinet to consider 
carefully all these questions, and he warned them em- 
phatically, Mr. Welles says, that he did not sympathize with 
and would not participate in any feelings of hate and vin- 
dictiveness. " He hoped there would be no persecution, no 
bloody w^ork, after the war was over. None need expect he 
Would take any part in hanging or killing these men, even 
the worst of them. Frighten them out of the country, let 
down the bars^ scare them off, said he, throwing up his hands 
as if scaring sheep. Encuigh lives have been sacrificed. We 
must extinguish our resentment if we expect harmony and 
union. There was too much desire on the part of our very 
good friends to be masters, to interfere with and dictate to 
those States, to treat the people not as fellow-citizens ; there 
was too little respect for their rights. He didn't sympathize 
in these feelings." 

The impression he made on all the cabinet that day was ex- 
pressed twenty-four hours later by Secretary Stanton : " He 
was more cheerful and hap]w than I had ever seen him. re- 
joiced at the near prospect of firm and durable peace at home 
and abroad, manifested in marked degree the kindness and 



THE END OF THE WAR 



235 



humanity of his disposition, and the tender and forgiving 
spirit that so eminently distinguished him." 

In the afternoon the President went for his usual <h-ive. 
Only Mrs. Lincoln was with him. Years afterward Mrs. 
Lincoln related to Lsaac Arnold what she remembered of Mr. 
Lincoln's words that day: " Mary," he said, " we have had 
a hard time of it since we came to Washington ; but the war 
is over, and with God's blessing we may hope for four years 
of peace and happiness, and then we will go back to Illinois, 
and pass the rest of our lives in quiet. We have laid 1)y some 
money, and during this term we will try and save up more, 
but shall not have enough to support us. We will go back to 
Illinois, and I will open a law office at Springfield or Chicago, 
and practice law, and at least do enough to help give us a 
livelihood." 

It was late in the afternoon when he returned from his 
drive, and as he left his carriage he saw^ going across the 
lawn toward the Treasury a group of friends, among them 
Richard Oglesby, then Governor of Illinois. " Come back, 
boys, come back," he shouted. The party turned, joined the 
President on the portico, and went up to his office with him. 

" How long we remained there I do not remember," says 
Governor Oglesby. " Lincoln got to reading some humorous 
book ; I think it was by ' John Phcenix.' They kept sending 
for him to come to dinner. He promised each time to go, Init 
would continue reading the book. Finally he got a sort of 
peremptory order that he must come to dinner at once. It 
v^as explained to me by the old man at the door that they 
were going to have dinner and then go to the theater." 

A theater party had been made up by Mrs. Lincoln for that 
evening — General and Mrs. Grant being her guests — to see 
Laura Keene, at Ford's theater, in " Our American Cousin." 
Miss Keene was ending her season in Washington that night 
with a benefit. The box had been ordered in the morning, 



236 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

and unusual preparations had been made to receive the presi* 
dential party. The partition between the two upper proscen- 
ium boxes at the left of the stage had been removed, com- 
fortable upholstered chairs had been put in. and the front of 
the box had been draped with flags. The manager, of 
course, took care to announce in the afternoon papers that 
the '' President and his lady " and the " Hero of Appo- 
mattox " would attend Miss Keene's benefit that evening. 

By eight o'clock the house was filled with the half-idle, 
half-curious crowd of a holiday night. Many hail come 
simply to see General Grant, whose face was then unfamiliar 
in Washington. Others, strolling down the street, had 
dropped in because they had nothing better to do. The play 
began promptly, the house following its nonsensical fun with 
friendly eyes and generous applause, one eye on the Presi- 
dent's box. 

The presidential party was late. Indeed it had not left the 
White House until after eight o'clock, and then it was made 
up differently from what Mrs. Lincoln had expected, for in 
the afternoon she had received word that General and Mrs. 
Grant had decided to go North that night. It was suggested 
then that the party be given up, but the fear that the public 
would be disappointed decided the President to keep the en- 
gagement. Two young friends, the daughter of Senator Ira 
Harris and his stepson. Major H. R. Rathbone, had been in- 
vited to take the place of General and Mrs. Grant. 

Schuyler Colfax and Mr. Ashmun, of Massachusetts, had 
called early in the evening, and the President had talked with 
them a little while. He rose finally with evident regret to go 
to his carriage. The two gentlemen accompanied him to the 
door, and he paused there long enough to write on a card, 
"Allow Mr. Ashmun and friends to come in at nine a. m. to- 
morrow." As he shook hands with them he said to Mr. Col- 
fax : " Colfax, don't forget to tell those people in the mining 



THE END OF THE WAR 237 




^y^4^vJe-/4t /5^r 



THE LAST BIT OF WKITING DONE BY LINCOLN. 

Loaned by G. A. Morton, New Haven, Conn. 

regions what I told you this morning." Then, entering the 
carriage, he was driven to the theater on Tenth street, be- 
tween E and F. 

When the presidential party finally entered the theater, 
making its way along the gallery behind the seats of the dress 
circle, the orchestra broke into '" Hail to the Chief," and the 
people, rising in their seats and waving hats and handker- 
chiefs, cheered and cheered, the actors on the stage standing 
silent in the meantime. The party passed through the nar- 
row entrance into the box, and the several members laid aside 
their wraps, and bowing and smiling to the enthusiastic 
crowd below, seated themselves, Mr. Lincoln in a large arm- 
chair at the left, Mrs. Lincoln next to him. Miss Harris next, 
and to the extreme right, a little behind Miss Harris, Major 
Rathbone ; and then the plav went on. 

The party in the box was well entertained, it seemed, es- 
pecially the President, who laughed good-humoredly at the 
jokes and chatted cheerfully between the acts. He moved 
from his seat but once, rising then to put on his overcoat, for 
the house was chilly. The audience was well entertained, 



23"^ LIFE OF LINCOLN 

too, though not a few kept an eye on the box entrance, still 
expecting General Grant. The few whose eyes sought the 
box now and then noticed, in the second scene of the third 
act, that a man was passing behind the seats of the dress cir- 
cle and approaching the entrance to the box. Those who did 
not know him noticed that he was strikingly handsome, 
though very pale ; that was all. They did not look again. It 
was not General Grant. 

One man did watch him. He knew him, and wanted to 
see who in the presidential box it could be that he knew well 
enough to call on in the middle of an act. If any attendant 
saw him, there was no question of his movements. He was a 
privileged person in the theater, having free entrance to 
every corner. He had been there in the course of the day; 
he had passed out and in once or twice during the evening. 

Crowding behind some loose chairs in the aisle, the man 
passed out of sight through the door leading into the pas- 
sage behind the President's box. He closed the door behind 
him, paused for a moment, then did a curious thing for a 
visitor to a theater party. He picked up a piece of stout 
plank which he seemed to know just where to find, and 
slipped one end into a hole gouged into the v/all close to the 
door-casing. The plank extended across the door, making 
a rough but effective bolt. Turning to the door which led 
from the passage to the boxes, he may have peered through 
a tiny hole which had been drilled through the panel. If he 
did, he saw a quiet party intent on the play, the President 
just then smiling over a bit of homely wit. 

Opening the door so rjuietly that no one heard him, the 
man entered the box. Then if any eye in the house could but 
have looked, if one head in the box had been turned, it would 
have been seen that the v.an held in his right hand a Derrin- 
ger pistol, and that he raised the weapon and aimed it 
steadily at the head of the smiling President. 



THE END OF THE WAR 239 

No eye saw him, but a second later and every ear heard a 
pistol shot. Those in the house unfamiliar with the play 
thought it a part of the performance, and waited expectant. 
Those familiar with " Our American Cousin," the orches- 
tra, attendants, actors, searched in amazement to see from 
where the sound came. Only three persons in all the house 
knew just where it was — three of the four in the box knew it 
was there by their side — a tragedy. The fourth saw nothing, 
heard nothing, thought nothing. His head had fallen quietly 
on his breast, his arms had relaxed a little, the smile was still 
on his lips. 

Then from the box, now filled with white smoke, came a 
woman's sharp cry, and there was a sound of a struggle. 
Major Rathbone, at the sound of the shot, had sprung to his 
feet and grappled with the stranger, w^ho now had a dagger 
in his hand, and who struck viciously with it at the Major's 
heart. He, w^arding the blow from his breast, received it in 
his upper arm, and his hold relaxed. The stranger sprang to 
the balustrade of the box as if about to leap, but Major Rath- 
bone caught at his garments. They were torn from his 
grasp, and the man vaulted toward the stage, a light, agile 
leap, which turned to a plunge as the silken flag in front 
caught at a spur on his boot. As the man struck the floor his 
left leg bent and a bone snapped, but instantly he was up ; 
and limping to the middle of the stage, a long strip of the 
silken banner trailing from his spur, he turned full on the 
house, which still stared straight ahead, searching for the 
meaning of the mufiied pistol shot. Brandishing his dagger 
and shouting — so many thought, though there were others 
whose ears were so frozen with amazement that they heard 
nothing — '''' Sic semper tyrannis! " he turned to fly. Not. 
however, before more than one person in the house had said 
to himself, " Why. it is John Wilkes Booth ! " Not before 
others had realized that the shot was that of a murderer, that 



240 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

the woman's cry in the box came from Mrs, Lincoln, that the 
President in all the turmoil alone sat calm, his head unmoved 
on his breast. As these few grasped the awful meaning of 
the confused scene, it seemed to them that they could not rise 
nor cry out. They stretched out inarticulate arms, struggling 
to tear themselves from the nightmare which held them. 
When strength and voice did return, they plunged over the 
seats, forgetting their companions, bruising themselves, and 
clambered to the stage, crying aloud in rage and despair, 
" Hang him, hang him ! " But Booth, though his leg was 
broken, was too quick. He struck with his dagger at one who 
caught him, plunged through a familiar back exit, and, leap- 
ing upon a horse standing ready for him, fled. When those 
who pursued reached the street, they heard only the rapidly 
receding clatter of a horse's hoofs. 

But while a few in the house pursued Booth, others had 
thought only of reaching the box. The stage was now full of 
actors in their paint and furbelows, musicians with their in- 
struments, men in evening dress, officers in uniform — a mot- 
ley, wild-eyed crowd which, as Miss Harris appeared at the 
edge of the box crying out, " Bring water. Has any one 
stimulants ? " demanded, " What is it ? What is the mat- 
ter?" 

" The President is shot," was her reply. 

A surgeon was helped over the balustrade into the box. 
The star of the evening, whose triumph this was to have 
been, strove to calm the distracted throng; then she, too, 
sought the box. Major Rathbone, who first of all in the 
house had realized that a foul crime had been attempted, had 
turned from his unsuccessful attempt to stop the murderer 
to see that it was the President who had been shot. He had 
rushed to the door of the passage, where men were already 
beating in a furious effort to gain admission, and had found 
it barred. It was an instant before he could pull away the 



THE END OF THE WAR 241 

plank, explain the tragedy, demand surgeons, and press back 
the crowd. 

The physicians admitted lifted the silent figure, still sitting 
calmly in the chair, stretched it on the floor, and began to 
tear away the clothing to find the wound, which they sup- 
posed was in the breast. It was a moment before it was dis- 
covered that the ball had entered the head back of the left ear 
and was imbedded in the brain. 

There seemed to be but one desire then : that was to get 
the wounded man from the scene of the murder. Two per- 
sons lifted him. and the stricken party passed from the box, 
through the dress circle, down the stairs into the street, the 
blood dripping from the wound faster and faster as they 
went. No one seemed to know where the)^ were going, for as 
they reached the street there was a helpless pause and an ap- 
peal from the bearers, " Where shall we take him? " Across 
the street, on the high front steps of a plain, three-storied 
brick house, stood a man, who but a moment before had left 
the theater, rather bored by the play. He had seen, as he 
stood there idly wondering if he should go in to bed or not, a 
violent commotion in the vestibule of the theater; had seen 
people rushing out, the street filling up, policemen and sol- 
diers appearing. He did not know what it all meant. Then 
two men bearing a body came from the theater, behind them 
a woman in evening gown, flowers in her hair, jewels on her 
neck. She was wringing her hands and moaning. The man 
on the steps heard some one say, " The President is shot; " 
heard the bearers of the body asking, " Where shall we take 
him? " and quickly coming forward, he said, " Bring him 
here into my room." 

And so the President was carried up the high steps, 
through a narrow hall, and laid, still unconscious, still mo- 
tionless, on the bed of a poor, little, commonplace room of a 
commonplace lodging-house, where surgeons and physicians 
'16) 



242 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



gathered about in a desperate attempt to rescue him from 
death. 

While the surgeons worked the news was spreading to the 
town. Every man and woman in the theater rushed forth to 
tell it. Some ran wildly down the streets, exclaiming to 
those they met, " The President is killed ! The President is 
killed!" One rushed into a ball-room, and told it to the 
dancers ; another bursting into a room where a party of emi- 
nen'". oublic men were playing cards, cried, " Lincoln is 
shot! ' Another, running into the auditorium of Grover's 
Theater, cried, " President Lincoln has been shot in his pri- 
vate box at Ford's Theater." Those who heard the cry 
thought the man insane or drunk, but a moment later they 
saw the actors in a combat called from the stage, the mana- 
ger coming forward. His face was pale, his voice agonized, 
as he said, " Ladies and gentlemen, I feel it my duty to say 
to you that the announcement made from the front of the 
theater just now is true, President Lincoln has been shot." 
One ran to summon Secretary Stanton. A boy picked up at 
the door of the house where the President lay was sent to the 
White House for Robert Lincoln. The news spread by the 
very force of its own horror, and as it spread it met other 
news no less terrible. At the same hour that Booth had sent 
the ball into the President's brain, a man had forced his way 
into the house of Secretary Seward, then lying in bed with a 
broken arm, and had stabbed both the Secretary and his son 
Frederick so seriously that it was feared they would die. Li 
his entrance and exit he had wounded three other members 
of the household. Like Booth, he had escaped. Horror bred 
rumor, and Secretary Stanton, too, was reported wounded, 
while later it was said that Grant had been killed on his way 
North. Dread seized the town. " Rumors are so thick," 
wrote the editor of the " National Intelligencer " at two 
o'clock in the morning. " the excitement of this hour is so in- 
tense, that we rely entirely uoon our reporters to advise the 



THE END OF THE WAR 



oil 

-40 



public of the details and result of this night of horrors. Evi- 
dently conspirators are among us. To what extent does the 
conspiracy exist? This is a terrible question. When a spirit 
so horrible as this is abroad, what man is safe? We can only 
advise the utmost vigilance and the most prompt measures by 
the authorities. We can only pray God to shield us, His un- 
ivorthy people, from further calamities like these." 

The civil and military authorities prepared for attack from 
within and without. Martial law was at once established. 
The long roll was beaten ; every exit from the city was 
guarded ; out-going trains were stopped ; mounted police and 
cavalry clattered up and down the street ; the forts were or- 
dered on the alert ; guns were manned. 

In the meantime there had gathered in the house on 
Tenth Street, where the President lay, his family physician 
and intimate friends, as well as many prominent officials. Be- 
fore they reached him it was known there was no hope, that 
the wound was fatal. They grouped themselves about the 
bedside or in the adjoining rooms, trying to comfort the 
weeping wife, or listening awe-struck to the steady moaning 
and labored breathing of the unconscious man, which at 
times could be heard all over the house. Stanton alone 
seemed able to act methodically. No man felt the tragedy 
more than the great War Secretary, for no one in the cabinet 
was by greatness of heart and intellect so well able to com- 
prehend the worth of the dying President ; but no man in that 
distracted night acted with greater energy or calm. Sum- 
moning the Assistant Secretary, C. A. Dana, and a stenog- 
rapher, he began dictating orders to the authorities on all 
sides, notifying them of the tragedy, directing them what 
precautions to take, what persons to arrest. Grant, now re- 
turning to Washington, he directed should be warned to keep 
close watch on all persons who came close to him in the cars 
and to see that an eno-ine be sent in front of his train. He 
sent out, too, an official account of the assassination. To-day 



244 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

the best brief account of the night's awful work remains the 
one which Secretary Stanton dictated within sound of the 
moaning of the dying President. 

And so the hours passed without perceptible change in the 
President's condition, and with only slight shifting of the 
scene around him. The testimony of those who had wit- 
nessed the murder began to be taken in an adjoining room. 
Occasionally the figures at the bedside changed. Mrs. Lin- 
coln came in at intervals, sobbing out her grief, and then was 
led away. This man went, another took his place. It was not 
until daylight that there came a perceptible change. Then 
the breathing grew quieter, the face became more calm. The 
doctors at Lincoln's side knew that dissolution was near. 
Their bulletin of six o'clock read, " Pulse failing; " that of 
half-past six, " Still failing; " that of seven, " Symptoms of 
immediate dissolution," and then at twenty-two minutes past 
seven, in the presence of his son Robert, Secretaries Stanton, 
Welles and Usher, Attorney-General Speed, Senator Sum- 
ner, Private Secretary Hay, Dr. Gurley, his pastor, and sev- 
eral physicians and friends, Abraham Lincoln died. There 
was a prayer, and then the solemn voice of Stanton broke the 
stillness, *' Now he belongs to the ages." 

Two hours later the body of the President, wrapped in an 
American flag, was borne from the house in Tenth Street, 
and carried through the hushed streets, where already thou- 
sands of flags were at half-mast and the gay buntings and 
garlands had been replaced by black draperies, and where the 
men who for days had been cheering in excess of joy and re- 
lief now stood with uncovered heads and wet eyes. They car- 
ried him to an upper room in the private apartments of the 
White House, and there he lay until three days later a heart- 
broken people claimed their right to look for a last time on 
his face. 




WATCHING AT THE BEDSIDE OF THE DYINt; PRESIDENT ON THE NIGHT OF APRIL I4 

AND IS, 1865. 



CHAPTER XXXI 
Lincoln's funeral 

The first edition of the morning papers in all the cities 
and towns of the North told their readers on Saturday, 
April 15, 1865, that Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
United States, lay mortally wounded in Washington. The 
extras within the next two hours told them he was dead. 
The first impulse of men everywhere seems to have been to 
doubt. It could not be. They realized only too quickly 
that it was true! There was no discrediting the circum- 
stantial accounts of the later telegrams. There was no es- 
cape from the horror and uncertainty which filled the air, 
driving out the joy and exultation which for days had inun- 
dated the country. 

In the great cities like New York a death-like silence fol- 
lowed the spreading of the news — a silence made the more 
terrible by the presence of hundreds of men and women walk- 
ing in the streets with bent heads, white faces, and knit 
brows. Automatically, without thought of what their neigh- 
bors were doing, these men went to their shops only to send 
away their clerks and close their doors for the day. Stock 
exchanges met only to adjourn. By ten o'clock business had 
ceased. It was not only in the cities, where the tension of 
feeling is always greatest, that this was true. It was the same 
in the small towns. 

" I was a compositor then, working in a printing office at 
Danville. Illinois," says Prof. A. G. Draper, of Washing- 
ton, D. C. " The editor came into the room early in the 
forenoon with a telegram in his hand ; he was regarding it 

245 



246 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

intently, with a pale face. Without saying a word he passed 
it to one and another of the compositors. I noticed that as 
the men read it they laid down their sticks, and without a 
word went, one after another, took their coats and hats off 
the nails where they were hanging, put them on, and went 
into the street. Finally the telegram was passed to me. It 
was the announcement that Lincoln had been shot the night 
before and had died that morning. Automatically I laid 
down my stick, took my hat and coat, and went into the 
street. It seemed to me as if every man in town had 
dropped his business just where it was and come out. There 
was no sound; but the people, with pale faces and tense 
looks, regarded one another as if questioning what would 
happen next." 

Just as the first universal impulse seems to have been to 
cease all business, so the next w^as to drag down the banners 
of victory which hung everywhere and replace them by crape. 
New York City before noon of Saturday was hung in black 
from the Battery to Harlem. It was not only Broadway and 
Washington Square and Fifth Avenue which mourned. The 
soiled windows of Five Points tenements and saloons were 
draped, and from the doors of the poor hovels of upper Man- 
hattan west of Central Park bits of black weed were strung. 
And so it was in all the cities and towns of the North. 
" About nine o'clock on Saturday the intelligence reached 
us of the assassination of Mr. Lincoln and the attempt upon 
Mr. Seward's life," wrote Senator Grimes from Burlington, 
Iowa. " Immediately the people began to assemble about the 
* Hawkeye ' office, and soon Third Street became packed 
with people. And such expressions of horror, indignation, 
sorrow, and wonder were never heard before. Shortly, some 
one began to decorate his house with the habiliments of 
mourning; and soon all the business part of the town, even 
the vilest liquor dens, was shrouded with the outward signs 



LINCOLN'S FUNERAL 247 

of sorrow. All business was at once suspended, and not re- 
sumed during the day ; but every one waited for further in- 
telligence from Washington." 

And this was true not only of the towns, it was true of the 
distant farms. Tliere the news was slower in coming. A 
traveller journeying from the town stopped to tell it at a 
farm-house. The farmer, leaving his plow, walked or rode 
across lots to repeat it to a neighbor. Everywhere they 
dropped their work, and everywhere they brought out a strip 
of black and tied it to the door-knob. 

The awful quiet of the North through the first few hours 
after the tragedy covered not grief alone ; below it was a 
righteous anger, which, as the hours passed, began to break 
out. It showed itself first against those of Southern sympa- 
thy who were bold enough to say they were " glad of it." In 
New York a man was heard to remark that " it served old 
Abe right." Cries of " Lynch him, lynch him ! " were raised. 
He was set upon by the crowd, and escaped narrowly. All 
day the police were busy hustling suspected Copperheads 
away from the mobs which seemed to rise from the ground 
at the first word of treason. 

" I was kept busy last night," further wrote Senator 
Grimes from Burlington, '" trying to prevent the destruction 
of the store of a foolish woman who, it was said, expressed 
her joy at Mr. Lincoln's murder. Had she been a man, so 
much was the old Adam aroused in me, I would not have ut- 
tered a word to save her." 

In Cincinnati, which had spent the day and night before in 
the most elaborate jubilation, the rage against treason broke 
out at the least provocation. " Some individuals of the * but- 
ternut ' inclination," says a former citizen, in recalling these 
days, " were knocked into the gutters and kicked, because 
they would make no expression of sorrow, or because of their 
well-known past sympathy with the rebellion. Others as 



248 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

loyal as any suffered also, through mistaken ideas of mean- 
ness on the part of personal enemies. Junius Brutus Booth, a 
brother of the assassin, was closing a two-weeks' engage- 
ment at Pike Opera House. He was stopping at the Bur- 
net House. While there was no violent public demonstra- 
tion against him, it was well known that his life would not be 
worth a farthing should he be seen on the streets or in public. 
Of course the bills were taken down, and there was no per- 
formance that night. Mr. Booth was w^ell pleased quietly to 
escape from the Burnet and disappear." 

In one New Hampshire town, where a company of volun- 
teers from the country had gathered to drill, only to be met 
by the news, it was rumored that a man in a factory near by 
had been heard to say, " The old abolitionist ought to have 
been killed long ago." The volunteers marched in a body to 
the factory, entered, and dragged the offender out into the 
road. There they held a crude court-martial. " The company 
surrounded him," says one of the men, " in such military or- 
der as raw recruits could get into, and questioned him as to 
his utterances. He was willing to do or say anything. ' Duck 
him ! ' was the cry raised on every hand. The canal was close 
at hand, but there were voices heard saying : ' He's an old 
man. Don't duck him. Send him out of town.' And so it 
was done. He was compelled to give three cheers for the 
Stars and Stripes. I shall never forget his pitiful little ' Hoo- 
ray ! ' He wa.s made to kneel down and repeat something in 
praise of Abraham Lincoln that one of the officers dictated 
to him, and then he w^as marched to his boarding-place, given 
certain minutes to pack up his effects, and escorted to the 
railroad station, where he was sent off on the next train. 
This was a very mild example of the feeling there was. Had 
the man been a real American Copperhead, he would 
scarcely have escaped a ducking, and perhaps a drubbing 



LINCOLN'S FUNERAL 



249 



also ; but many said : ' He's only an Englishman, and doesn't 
know any better.' " 

The most important expression of the feeling was that at a 
great noon meeting held at the Custom House in New York. 
Among the speakers were General Butler, E. L. Chittenden, 
Daniel L. Dickinson, William P. Fessenden, and General 
Garfield. The awful, wrathful, righteous indignation of the 
meeting is told in the following citations from the speeches. 

" H rebellion can do this to the wise, the kind, the benevo- 
lent Abraham Lincoln," said Butler, " what ought we to do 
to those who from high places incited the assassin's mind and 
guided the assassin's knife? [Applause, and cries of ' Hang 
them!'] Shall we content ourselves with simply crushing 
out the strength, the power, the material resources of the re- 
bellion? [' Never, never.'] Shall we leave it yet unsubdued 
to light the torch of conflagration in our cities? Are we to 
have peace in fact or peace only in name? [Cries of ' In fact ' 
and applause.] Is this nation hereafter to live in peace, or 
are men to go about in fear and in dread, as in some of the 
countries of the Old World, in times past, when every man 
feared his neighbor, and no man went about except he was 
armed to the teeth or was clad in panoply of steel ? This ques- 
tion is to be decided this day, and at this hour by the Ameri- 
can people. It may be that this is a dispensation of God, 
through his providence, to teacli us that the spirit of rebellion 
has not been broken with the surrender of its arms." [Ap- 
plause.] 

'* Fellow citizens," said Garfield, " they have slain the 
noblest and most generous spirit that ever put down a rebel- 
lion on this earth. [Applause.] It may be almost impious to 
say it; but it does seem to me that his death almost parallels 
that of the Son of God, who cried out, * Father, forgive them, 
for they know not what they do.' But in taking away that 
life they have left the iron hand of the people to fall upon 
them. [Great applause.] Peace, forgiveness and mercy are 
the attributes of this government, but Justice and Judgment 
with inexorable tread follow behind, and when they have 



25^ 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



slain love, when they have despised mercy, when they have 
rejected those that would be their best friends, then comes 
justice with hoodwinked eyes and the sword." 

The tense despair and rage of the people on Saturday had 
not broken when they gathered on Sunday for worship. 
Never, perhaps, in any sorrow, any disaster that this nation 
has suffered, was there so spontaneous a turning to the 
church for consolation as on this Sabbath day. Never, per- 
haps, did the clergy of a country rise more universally to con- 
sole the grief of a people than on this day. Everywhere, 
from East to West, the death of the President was the theme 
of the sermons, and men who never before in their lives had 
said anything but commonplaces rose this day to eloquence. 
One of the most touching of the Sunday gatherings was at 
Bloomington, Illinois. Elsewhere it was only a President, a 
national leader, who had been lost; here it was a personal 
friend, and people refused to be comforted. On Sunday 
morning there were sermons in all the churches, but they 
seemed in no way to relieve the tension. Later in the day 
word was circulated that a general out-of-door meeting 
would be held at the court-house, and people gathered from 
far and near, townspeople and country people, in the yard 
about the court-house, where for years they had been accus- 
tomed to see Lincoln coming and going; and the ministers of 
the town, all of them his frif^nds, talked one after another, 
until finally, comforted and resigned, the people separated 
silently and went home. 

On Monday a slight distraction came in the announcement 
of the plan for the funeral ceremonies. After much discus- 
sion, it had been decided that a public funeral should be held 
in Washington, and that the body should then lie in state for 
brief periods at each of the larger cities on the way to 
Springfield, whither it was to be taken for burial. The neces- 
sity of at once beginning preparations for tb^ reception of the 



LINCOLN'S FUNERAL 251 

funeral party furnished the first real relief to the universal 
grief which had paralyzed the country. 

The dead President had lain in an upper chamber of the 
White House from the time of his removal there on Satur- 
day morning until Tuesday morning, when he was laid un- 
der a magnificent catafalque in the centre of the great East 
Room. Although there were in Washington many citizens 
who sympathized with the South, although the plot for as- 
sassination had been developed there, yet no sign appeared 
of any feeling but grief and indignation. It is said that there 
were not fifty houses in the city that were not draped in 
black, and it seemed as if every man, woman, and child were 
seeking some souvenir of the tragedy. A child was found at 
the Tenth Street house staining bits of soft paper with the 
half-dried blood on the steps. Fragments of the stained linen 
from the bed on which the President died were passed from 
hand to hand; locks of the hair cut away by the surgeons 
were begged ; his latest photograph, the papers of the day, 
programmes of the funeral, a hundred trivial relics were 
gathered together, and are treasured to-day by the original 
owners or their children. They 

"dip their napkins in his sacred blood; 
Yea, beg a hair of him for memory. 
And, dying, mention it within their wills, 
Bequeathing it, as a rich legacy. 
Unto their issue." 

On Tuesday morning, when the White House was opened, 
it was practically the whole population, augmented by hun- 
dreds from the North, who waited at the gates. All day long 
they surged steadily through the East Room, and at night, 
when the gates were closed. Lafayette Park and the adjoin- 
ing streets were still packed with people waiting for admis- 
sion. In this great company of mourners two classes were 



o 



52 LIFE OF LINCOLN 



conspicuous, the soldiers and the negroes. One had come 
from camp and hospital, the other from country and hovel, 
and both wept unrestrainedly as they looked on the dead face 
of the man who had been to one a father, to the other a liber- 
ator. 

Wednesday had been chosen for the funeral, and every de- 
vice was employed by the Government to make the ceremony 
fitting in pomp and solemnity. The greatest of the nation — 
members of the cabinet, senators, congressmen, diplomats; 
representatives of the churches, of the courts, of commerce, 
of all that was distinguished and powerful in the North, were 
present in the East Room. Mr. Lincoln's friend, Bishop 
Simpson, and his pastor. Dr. Gurley, conducted the services. 
More than one spectator noted that in the great assemhly 
there was but one person bearing the name of Lincoln and re- 
lated to the President — his son Robert. Mrs. Lincoln was 
not able to endure the emotion of the scene, and little Tad 
could not be induced to be present. 

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the booming of cannon 
and the tolling of bells announced that the services were 
ended. A few moments later, the coffin was borne from the 
White House and placed in a magnificent funeral car, and 
under the conduct of a splendid military and civilian escort, 
conveyed slowly to the Capitol, attended by thousands upon 
thousands of men and women. At the east front of the Capi- 
tol the procession halted, and the body of Abraham Lincoln 
was borne across the portico, from which six weeks before in 
assuming for the second time the presidency, he had ex- 
plained to the country his views upon reconstruction : " With 
malice toward none ; with charity for all ; with firmness in the 
right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to 
finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds ; to 
care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his 
widow and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and 



LINCOLN'S FUNERAL 253 

cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with 
all nations." 

The rotunda of the Capitol, into which the coffin was now 
carried, was draped in black, and under the dome was a great 
catafalque. On this the coffin was placed, and after a simple 
service there left alone, save for the soldiers who paced back 
and forth at the head and foot. 

But it was not in Washington alone that funeral services 
were held that day. All over the North, in Canada, in the 
Army of the Potomac, even in Richmond, business was sus- 
pended, and at noon people gathered to listen to eulogies of 
the dead. Twenty-five million people literally participated in 
the funeral rites of that Wednesday. 

On Thursday the Capitol was opened, and here again, in 
spite of a steady rain, were repeated the scenes of Tuesday at 
the White House, thousands of persons slowly mounting the 
long flight of steps leading to the east entrance and passing 
through the rotunda. 

At six o'clock on the morning of April 21, there gathered 
in the rotunda the members of the cabinet, Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral Grant and his staff, many senators, army and navy offi- 
cers, and other dignitaries. After a prayer by Dr. Gurlcy, the 
party followed the coffin to the railway station, where the 
funeral train wdiich was to convey the remains of Abraham 
Lincoln from Washington to Springfield now stood. A great 
company of people had gathered for the last scene of tlie 
tragedy, and they waited in absolute silence and with uncov- 
ered heads while the coffin was placed in the car. At its foot ''. 
w^as placed a smaller coffin, that of Willie Lincoln, the Presi- , / 
dent's beloved son, who had died in Februarv, 1862. .At ATrs. 
Lincoln's request, father and son were to make together this ' 
last earthly journey. 

Following the remains of the President came the party 
which was to serve as an escort to Springfield. It included 



254 i-IFE OF LINCOLN 

/ several oi Lincoln's old-time friends, among them Judge Da- 
» vid Davis and Ward Lamon ; a Guard of Honor, composed 
of prominent army officers ; a large congressional committee, 
several governors of States, a special delegation from Illi- 
nois, and a bodyguard. From time to time on the journey 
this party was joined for brief periods by other eminent 
men, though it remained practically the same throughout. 
Three of its members — Judge Davis, General Hunter, and 
Marshal Lamon — had been with Mr. Lincoln when he came 
on to Washington for his first inauguration. 

Precisely at eight o'clock, the train of nine cars pulled out 
from the station. It moved slowly, almost noiselessly, not 
a bell ringing nor a whistle sounding, through a mourning 
throng that lined the way to the borders of the town. 

The line of the journey begun on this Friday morning 
was practically the same that Mr. Lincoln had followed four 
years before when he came to Washington for his first in- 
auguration. It led through Baltimore, Harrisburg, Phila- 
delphia, New' York, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, 
Indianapolis, and Chicago, to Springfield. The entire pro- 
gramme of the journey, including the hours when the train 
would pass certain towns where it could not stop, had been 
published long enough beforehand to enable the people along 
the way to arrange, if they wished, to pay a tribute to the 
dead President. The result was a demonstration which in 
sincerity and unanimity has never been equalled in the world's 
history. The journey began at six o'clock on the morning 
of April 21, and lasted until nine o'clock of the morning of 
May 3 : and it might almost be said that during the whole 
time there was not an hour of the night or day, whether the 
coffin lay in state in some heavily draped public building or 
was being wdiirled across the country, when mourning 
crowds were not regarding it with wet eyes and bowed heads. 
Night and darkness in no way lessened the number of the 



LINCOLN'S FUNERAL 



255 



mourners. Thus it was not until eight o'clock on Saturday 
evening (April 22) that the coffin was placed in Independ- 
ence Hall, at Philadelphia. The Ijuilding was at once opened 
to the public, and through the whole night thousands hied in 
to look on the dead man's face. It was at one o'clock in the 
morning, on Monday, that the coffin was carried from Inde- 
pendence Hall to the train, but thousands of men, women, 
and children stood in the streets while the procession passed, 
as if it were day. In New York, on the following Tuesday, 
City Hall, where the coffin had been placed in the afternoon, 
remained open the whole night. The crowd was even greater 
than during the day, filling the side streets around the square 
in every direction. It was more impressive, too, for the men 
and women who were willing to watch out the night in the 
flare of torches and gaslights were laborers who could not 
secure release in daytime. Many of them had come great 
distances, and hundreds were obliged, after leaving the hall, 
to find a bed in a doorway, so overfilled was the town. The 
crowd was at its greatest at midnight, when, as the bells were 
tolling the hour, a German chorus of some seventy voices 
commenced suddenly to sing the Integer vitae. The thrill- 
ing sweetness of the music coming unexpectedly upon the 
mourners produced an effect never to be forgotten. 

Nor did rain make any more difference with the crowd 
than the darkness. Several times during the journey there 
arose heavy storms; but the people, in utter indifference, 
stood in the streets, often uncovered, to see the catafalque 
and its guard go by or waiting their turn to be admitted to 
view the coffin. 

The great demonstrations were, of course, in the cities 
where the remains lay in state for a few hours. These 
demonstrations were perforce much alike. The funeral train 
was met at the station by the distinguished men of the city 
and representatives of organizations. The coffin was trans 



256 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

ferred to a stately liearse, draped in velvet and crape, sur« 
mounted by heavy plumes, ornamented in silver, and drawn 
by six, eight, ten, or more horses. Then, to the tolling of 
the bells and the regular firing jf minute guns, followed by 
a vast concourse of people, it was carried to the place ap- 
pointed for the lying in state. Here a crowd which seemed 
unending filed by until the time came to close the coffin, when 
the procession reformed to attend the hearse to the funeral 
train. 

The first of these demonstrations was in Baltimore, the 
city which a little over four years before it had been thought 
unsafe for the President to pass through openly, the city 
in which the first troops called out for the defense of the 
Union had been mobbed. Now no offering was sufficient 
to express the feeling of sorrow. All buildings draped in 
black, all business suspended, the people poured out in a driv- 
ing rain to follow the catafalque to the Exchange, where for 
two hours, on April 21, the public was admitted. 

■ As was to be expected, the most elaborate of the series of 
funeral ceremonies was in New York. There, when the 
funeral train arrived on Tuesday, April 25, the whole city 
was swathed in crape, and vast crowds filled the streets. The 
climax of the obsequies was the procession which, on 
Wednesday, followed the hearse up Broadway and Fifth 
Avenue to Thirty-fourth Street and thence to the Hudson 
River station. For a week this procession had been prepar- 
ing, until finally it included representatives of almost every 
organization of every nature in the city and vicinity. The 
military was represented by detachments from scores of dif- 
ferent regiments, and by many distinguished officers of the 
army and navy, among them General Scott and Admiral 
Farragut. Companies of the Seventh Regiment were on 
each side of the funeral car. The city sent its officials — edu- 
cational, judicial, protective. The foreign consuls marched 



LINCOLN'S FUNERAL 



257 



in full uniform. There were scores of societies and clubs, 
including all the organizations of Irish, German, and He- 
brews. The whole life of the city was, in fact, represented 
m the solid column of men which marched that day through 
the streets of New York in such numbers that it took four 
hours to pass a single point. Deepest in significance of all 
the long rank was the rear body in the last division : 200 
colored men bearing a banner inscribed with the words, 
" Abraham Lincoln — Our Eniancipator." A platoon of po- 
lice preceded, another followed the delegation, for the 
presence of these freedmen would, it was believed by many, 
cause disorder, and permission for them to march had only 
been obtained by an appeal to the Secretary of War, Mr. 
Stanton. Several white men walked with them, and at many 
points sympathizers took pains to applaud. With this single 
exception, the procession passed through a silent multitude, 
the only sound the steady tramp of feet and the music of the 
funeral dirges. 

At four o'clock the funeral car reached the station, and 
the journey was continued toward Albany. But the obse- 
quies in New York did not end then. A meeting was held 
that night in Union Square, at which George Bancroft deliv- 
ered an oration that will remain as one of the great expres- 
sions of the day upon Lincoln and the ideas for which he 
v/orked. It was for this gathering that Bryant wrote his 
"' Ode for the Burial of Abraham Lincoln," beginning: 

"Oh, slow to smite and swift to spare, 
Gentle and merciful and just ; 
Who in the fear of God did'st bear 
The sword of power, a Nation's trust." 

Imposing, solemn, and sincere as was this series of muni- 
cipal demonstrations over the bier of Lincoln, there was an- 
other feature of the funeral march which showed more viv- 
idly the affectionate reverence in which the whole people 
a?) 



25S LIFE OF LINCOLN 

held the President. This was the outpouring at villages, 
country cross-roads, and farms to salute, as it passed, the 
train bearing his remains. From Washington to Springfield 
the train entered scarcely a town that the bells were not toll- 
ing, the minute guns firing, the stations draped, and all the 
spaces beside the track crowded with people with uncovered 
heads. At many points arches were erected over the track ; 
at others the bridges were wreathed from end to end in crape 
and evergreens and flags. And this was not in the towns 
alone; every farm-house by which the train passed became 
for the time a funeral house ; the plow was left in the furrow, 
crape was on the door, the neighbors were gathered, and 
those who watched from the train as it flew by could see 
groups of weeping women, of men with uncovered heads, 
sometimes a minister among them, his arms raised in prayer. 
Night did not hinder them. Great bonfires were built in 
lonely country-sides, around which the farmers waited pa- 
tiently to salute their dead. At the towns the length of the 
train was lit by blazing torches. Storm as well as darkness 
was unheeded. Much of the journey was made through the 
rain, in fact, but the people seemed to have forgotten all 
things but that Abraham Lincoln, the man they loved and 
trusted, was passing by for the last time. 

At eleven o'clock on the morning of Monday, May i. the 
funeral train reached Chicago, and here the mourning began 
to take on a character distinctly different from what had 
marked it through the East. The people who now met iihe 
coffin, who followed it to the court-house, who passed in end- 
less streams by it to look on Lincoln's face, dated their trust 
in him many years earlier than 1861. Man after man of 
^hem had come to pay their last tribute, not to the late Presi- 
dent of the United States, but to the genial lawyer, the 
resourceful, witty political debater who had educated Illinois 
to believe that a countrv could not endure half slave and half 



LINCOLN'S FUNERAL ^^^ 

free, and who, after defeat, had kept her faithful to the " dur- 
able struggle " by his counsel. The tears these men 
shed were the tears of long-time friends and personal 
followers. 

As the train advanced from Chicago toward Springfield 
the personal and intimate character of the mourning grew. 
The journey was made at night, but the whole population of 
the country lined the route. Nearly every one of the towns 
passed — indeed, one might almost say every one of the farms 
passed — had been visited personally by Lincoln on legal or 
political errands, and a vast number of those who thus in 
the dead of night watched the flying train he had at some 
time in his life taken by the hand. 

It was nine o'clock on the morning of May 3 that the 
funeral train entered the town where, four years and two 
months before, Abraham Lincoln had bidden his friends 
farewell, as he left them to go to Washington. Nearly all 
of those who on that dreary February morning had listened 
to his solemn farewell words were present in the May sun- 
shine to receive him. Their hearts had been heavy as he de- 
parted ; they were broken now, for he was more than a great 
leader, an honored martyr, to the men of 'Springfield. He 
was their neighbor and friend and helper, and as they bore 
his coffin to the State House, in the centre of the city, their 
minds were busy, not with the greatness and honor that had 
come to him and to them through him, but with the scenes of 
more than a quarter of a century in which he had always 
been a conspicuous figure. Every corner of the street sug- 
gested that past. Here was the office in which he had first 
studied law ; here, draped in mourning, the one before which 
his name still hung. Here was the house where he had lived, 
the church he had attended, the store in which he had been 
accustomed to tell stories and to discuss politics. His name 
was written everywhere, even on the walls of the Hall of 



26o LIFE OF LINCOLN 

RepieseTitatives in the State House, where they placed his 
coffin, for here he had spoken again and again. 

During the time that the body lay in state — from the noon 
Df May 3 until the noon of May 4 — the place Lincoln 
held in Springfield and the surrounding country was shown 
as never before. The men and women who came to look on 
his face were many of them the plain farmers of Sangamon 
and adjacent counties, and they wept as over the coffin of a 
father. Their grief at finding him so changed was incon- 
solable. In the days after leaving Washington the face 
changed greatly, and by the time Springfield was reached it 
was black and shrunken almost beyond recognition. To 
many the last look at their friend was so painful that the re- 
membrance has never left them. The writer has seen men 
weep as they recalled the scene, and heard them say repeat- 
edly, " If I had not seen him dead; if I could only remember 
him alive! " 

It was on May 4, fifteen days after the funeral in Wash- 
ington, that Abraham Lincoln's remains finally rested in 
Oakland Cemetery, a shaded and beautiful spot, two miles 
from Springfield. Here, at the foot of a woody knoll, a vault 
had been prepared ; and thither, attended by a great con- 
course of military and civic dignitaries, by governors of 
States, members of Congress, officers of the army and navy, 
delegations from orders, from cities, from churches, by the 
friends of his youth, his young manhood, his maturer years, 
was Lincoln carried and laid, by his side his little son. The 
solemn rite was followed by dirge and prayer, by the reading 
of his last inaugural address, and by a noble funeral oration 
by Bishop Simpson. Then, as the beautiful day drew toward 
evening, the vault was closed, and the great multitudes 
slowly returned to their duties. 

The funeral pageant was at an end, but the mourning was 
not silenced. From every corner of the earth there came to 



LINCOLN'S FUNERAL 261 

the family and to the Government tributes to the greatness 
of the character and Hfe of the murdered man. Medals 
were cast, tablets engraved, parchments engrossed. i\t the 
end of the year, when the State Department came to publish 
the diplomatic correspondence of 1865, there was a volume 
of over 700 pages, containing nothing but expressions of 
condolence and sympathy on Lincoln's death. Nor did the 
mourning and the honor end there. From the day of his 
death until now, the world has gone on rearing monuments 
to Abraham Lincoln. 

The first and inevitable result of the emotion which swept 
over the earth at Lincoln's death was to enroll him among 
martyrs and heroes. Men forgot that they had despised him, 
jeered at him, doubted him. They forgot his mistakes, for- 
got his plodding caution, forgot his homely ways. They saw 
now, with the vision which an awful and sudden disaster so 
often gives, the simple, noble outlines on which he had 
worked. They realized how completely he had sunk every 
partisan and personal consideration, every non-essential, in 
the tasks which he had set for himself — to prevent the exten- 
sion of slavery, to save the Union. They realized how, while 
they had forgotten everything in disputes over this man. this 
measure, this event, he had seen only the two great objects 
of the struggle. They saw how slowly, but surely, he had 
educated them to feel the vital importance of these objects, 
had resolved their partisan warfare into a moral struggle. 
The wisdom of his words, the sincerity of his acts, the stead- 
fastness of his life were clear to them at last. With this rea- 
lization came a feeling that he was more than a man. He 
was a prophet, they said, a man raised up b}- God for a 
special work, and they laid then the foundation of the Lin- 
coln myth which still enthralls so many minds. 

The real Lincoln, the great Lincoln, is not, however, this 
prophet and martyr. He is the simple, steady, resolute, un- 



262 ^IFE OF LINCOLN 

selfish man whose supreme ambition was to find out the truth 
of the questions which confronted him in Hfe, and whose 
highest satisfaction was in following the truth he discovered. 
He was not endowed by nature with the vision of a seer. 
His power of getting at the truth of things he had won by in- 
cessant mental effort. From his boyhood he would under- 
stand, though he must walk the floor all night with his prob- 
lem. Nor had nature made him a saint. His lofty moral 
courage in the Civil War was the logical result of life-long 
fidelity to his own conscience. From his boyhood he would 
keep faith with that which his mind told him was true, 
though he lost friend and place by it. When he entered pub- 
lic life these qualities at first won him position ; but they cost 
him a position more than once. They sent him to Congress ; 
but, in 1849, they forced him out of public life. They 
brought him face to face with Douglas from 1854 to 1858, 
and enabled him to shape the moral sentiment of the North- 
west ; but later they defeated him. They made him Illinois's 
candidate for the presidency in i860; but they brought upon 
him as President the distrust and hatred of even his own 
party. It took four years of dogged struggle, of constant 
repetitions of the few truths which he believed to be essential, 
to teach the people of the United States that they could trust 
him ; it took a murderer's bullet to make them realize the 
surpassing greatness of his simplicity, his common sense, 
and his resolution. It is this man who never rested until he 
had found what he believed to be the right, and, who, having 
found it, could never be turned from it, who is the Real Lin- 
coln. 



APPENDIX 



appeisjdt:s: 



The following Letters, Telegrams and Speeches of Abral:aia Lin- 
coln have been collected by the author in the course of the work of 
preparing this Life of Lincoln. None of these uoeumeuts appeal 
in Lincoln's " Complete Works" edited by Nicolay and Hay or in 
any other collection of his writings. 

New Salem, Aug. 10, 1833. 
F. C. Blaneenship: 

Dear Sir: — In regard to the time David Rankin served the en- 
closed discharge shows correctly — as well as I can recollect — having 
no writing to refer. The transfer of Rankin from my company 
occurred as follows — Rankin having lost his liorse at Dixon's ferry 
and having acquaintance in one of the foot companies who were 
going down the river was desiroias to go with them, and one Gal- 
islien being an acquaintance of mine and belonging to the com- 
pany in which Rankin wished to go wished to leave it and join 
mine, this being the case it was agreed that they should exchange 
places and answer to each others names — as it was expected we all 
would be discharged in very few days. As to a blanket — I have 
no knowledge of Rankin ever getting any. Tlie above embraces 
all the facts now in my recollection which are pertinent to the 
case. 

I shall take pleasure in giving any further information in my 
power should you call on me. 

Your friend, A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by DeWitt C. Sprague, Washington, D. C.) 



Mr. Spears: 

At your request I send you a receipt for the postage on your 
paper. T am somewhat surprised at your request. I will, however, 
comply with it. The law requires Newspaper postage to be paid in 
advance, and now that I have waited a full year you choose to 
wovmd my feelings by insinuating that unless you get a receipt 
T will probably make you pay it again— 

Respectfully^ A, Lincoln. 



265 



A 



266 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Received of George Spears in full for postage on the " Sangamon 
Journal " up to the iirst of Julj', 1834. 

A. Lincoln, P. M. 

(From fac-simile of letter x)rinted in Menard-Salem-Lincolu 
Souvenir Album. Petersburg, 1893.) 

Report of Road Survey, written by Abraham Lincoln. 

To the County Commissioner s Court for the County of Sanga- 
mon : — 

We, the undersigned, being appointed to view and relocate a part 
of the road between Sangamon town and the town of Athena 
respectfully report that we have performed the duty of said ap- 
pointment according to law — and that we have made the said re- 
location on good ground — and believe the same to be necessary and 
proper. 

Ja]MES STROWBRmQE, , 

Levi Cantkall, 
Athens, Nov. 4, 1834. A. Lincoln. 

Herewith is the map — The court may allow me the following 
charges if they think proper — 

1 day's labour as surveyor $3.00 

Making map 50 



$3.50 
A. Lincoln. 

(Original in office of county clerk, Springfield, Fil.) 

John Bennett, Esq. 

Springfield, III., Aug. 5, 1837. 

Dear Sir : — Mr. Edwards tells me you wish to know whether the 
act to which your town incorporation provision was attached 
passed into a law. It did. You can organize under the general 
incorporation law as soon as you choose. I also tacked a provision 
on to a fellow's bill to authorize the re-location of the road from 
Salem down to your town, but I am not certain whether or not the 
bill passed, neither do I suppose I can ascertain before the law will 
be published, if it is a law. Bowling Greene, Bennett Abell, and 
yourself are appointed to make the change. 

No news. No excitement except a little about the election of 
Monday next. I suppose of course our friend, Dr. Henry, stands 
no chance in your " diggings." 

Your friend and humble servant, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by E. R. Oeltjen. Petersburg, Illinois.) 



APPENDIX 267 



TO THE PEOPLE. 

" Sangamo Journal/^ Springfield, III., Aug, 10, 1837, 

In accordance with our determination, as expressed last week, wc 
present to the reader the articles which were published in hand-bill 
torm, in reference to the case of the heirs of Joseph Anderson vs. 
James Adams. These articles can now be read, uninfluenced by 
personal or party feeling, and with the sole motive of learning the 
truth. When that is done, the reader can pass his own judgment 
on the matters at issue. 

We only regret in this case, that the publications were not made 
some weeks before the election. Such a course might have pre- 
vented the expressions of regret, which have often been heard since, 
from different individuals, on account of the disposition they made 
of their votes. 

TO THE PUBLIC. 

It is well known to most of you, that there is existing at this 
time, considerable excitement in regard to Gen. Adams's titles to 
certain tracts of land, and the manner in which he acquired them. 
As I understand, the Gen. charges that the whole has been gotten 
up by a knot of lawyers to injure his election; and as I am one of 
the knot to which he refers — and as I happeii to be in possession 
of facts connected with the matter, I will, in as brief a manner as 
possible, make a statement of them, together with the means by 
which I arrived at the knowledge of them. 

Sometime in May or June last, a widow woman, by the name of 
Anderson, and her son, who resides in Fulton county, came to 
Springfield, for the purpose, as they said, of selling a ten acre 
lot of ground lying near town, which they claimed as the property 
of the deceased husband and father. 

When they reached town they found the land was claimed by 
Gen. Adams. John T. Stiiart and myself were employed to look 
into the matter, and if it was thought we could do so with any 
prospect of success, to commence a suit for the land. I went imme- 
diately to the recorder's office to examine Adams's title, and found 
that the land had been entered by one Dixon, deeded by Dixon to 
Thomas, by Thomas to one l^.filler, and by Miller to Gen. Adarns. 
■ — The oldest of these three deeds was about ten or eleven years old, 
and the latest more than five, all recorded at the same time, and 
that within less than one year. This T thought a suspicious cir- 
cumstance, and I was thereby induced to examine the deeds very 
closely, with a view to the discovery of some defect by which to 
overturn the title, being almost convinced then it was fonnded in 
fraud. I finally discovered that in the deed from Thomas to Mil- 
ler, although T\riller's name stood in a sort of marginal note on 
*he record book, it was nowhere in the deed itself. I told the fac^ 



268 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

to Talbotf, the recorder, and proposed to him that he should go to 
Gen. Adams's and get the original deed, and compare it with the 
record, and thereby ascertain whether the defect was in the orig- 
inal, or there was merel.y an error in the recording. As Talbott 
afterwards told me, he went to the General's, but not finding hnn 
at home, got the deed from his son, which, when compared with the 
record, proved what we had discovered was merely an error of the 
recorder. After 11 r. Talbott corrected the record, he brought the 
original to our office, as I then thought and think yet, to show us 
that it was right. When he came into the room he handed the 
deed to me, remarking that the fault was all his own. On opening 
it, another paper fell out of it, which on examination, proved to 
be an assignment of a judgment in the Circuit Court of Sangamon 
County from Joseph Anderson, the late husband of the widow 
above named, to James Adams, the judgment being in favor of 
said Anderson against one Joseph Miller. Knowing that this 
judgment had some connection with the land affair, I immediately 
took a copy of it, which is word for word, letter for letter and cross 
for cross as follows: 



" Joseph Anderson, 
Joseph Miller. 



Judgment in Sangamon Circuit Court 
against Joseph ]\Iiller obtained on a note 
originally 25 dolls and interest thereon 
accrued. 

I assign all my right, title and interest 
to James Adams which is in consideration 
of a debt I owe said Adams. 



May 10th, 1827. his 

Joseph X Anderson. 
mark.'' 



As the rop^; shows, it bore date May 10, 1S27; although thfi 
judgment assigned by it was not obtained until the October after- 
wards, as may be seen by any one on the records of the Circuit 
Court. Two other strange circumstances attended it which cannot 
be represented by a copy. One of them v>'as, that the date " 1S27" 
had first been m.ade " 1837 " and without tlie figure " 3 " being fully 
obliterated, the figure "2" had afterwards been made on top of it; 
the other was that, although the date was ten years old, the writing 
on it, from the freshness of its appearance, was thought by many, 
and I believe by all who saw it, not to be more than a week old. 
The paper on whicb. it was written had a very old appearance; and 
there were some old figures on the back of it which made the 
freshness of the writing on the face of it, much more striking 
than I suppose it otherwise might have been. The reader's cari- 



APPENDIX 



20(j 



osity is no doubt excited to know what connection thi? assignment 
had with the hind in question. The story is tliis: Dix'>u sold ai)d 
deeded the land to Thomas: — Thomas sold it to Anderson; Init 
before he gave a deed, Anderson sold it to Miller, and took IMillcv'a 
note for the purchase money. — When this note became due, Ander- 
son sued Miller on it, and Miller procured an injunction from the 
Court of Chancery to stay the collection of the money until he 
should get a deed for the land. Gen. Adams was employed as an 
attorney by Anderson in this chancery suit, and at the October 
term, 1827, the injunction was dissolved, and a judgment given 
in favor of Anderson against Miller; and it was provided that 
Thomas was to execute a deed for the land in favor of Miller, and 
deliver it to Gen. Adams, to be held up by him till ]\[iller paid the 
judgment, and then to deliver it to him. Miller left the county 
without paying the judgment. Anderson moved to Fulton county, 
where he has since died. When the widow came to Springfield last 
May or June, as before mentionetl, and found the land deeded to 
Gen. Adams by Miller, she was naturally led to enquire why the 
money due upon the judgment had not been sent to them, inas- 
much as he, Gen. Adams, had no authority to deliver Thomas's 
deed to Miller until the money was jjaid. Then it was the General 
told her, or perhaps her soji, who came with her, that Andersen, 
in his lifetime, had assigned the jiidffment to him. Gen. Adams. 
I am now told that the General is exhibiting an assignment of the 
same judgment bearing date " 1828;" and in other respects differing 
from the one described; and that he is asserting that no such 
assignment as the one copied by me ever existed; or if there did, 
it was forged between Talbott and the lawyers, and slipped into his 
papers for the purpose of injuring him. Now, I can only say that 
I know precisely such a one did exist, and that Ben. Talbott, Wra. 
Butler, C. K. ]\ratheny, John T. Stuart, Judge Logan, Tlobert Irwin, 
P. C. Canedv and S. M. Tinslev, all saw and examined it, and that 
at least one "half of them will swear that IT WAS IN GENEBAL 
ADAMS'S HANDWRITING! I And further, I know that Tal- 
bott will swear that he got it out of the Genernl's possession, and 
returned it into his possession again. The assignment which the 
General ir, now exhibiting purports to have been by Anderson in 
writing. The one I copied was signed with a cross. 

I am told that Gen. ISTeale says that he will swear, that he heard 
Gen. Adams tell young Anderson that the assignment made by his 
father was signed v/ith a cross. 

The above are facts, as stated. I leave them without comment. 
I have given the names of persons who have knowledge of these 
facts, in order that any one who chooses may call on them and 
ascertain how far they will corroborate my statements. I have 
only made thc^e statements because T nm known by Tuany to be 
one of the individuals against wliom the charge of forging the 
assignment and slipping it into the General's papers, has been 
made; and hecause our silence miglit lie construed into a confes 



2 70 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

sion of its truth. I shall not subscribe my name; but I hereby 
authorize the editor of the ' ournal ' to give it up to any one that 
may call for it." 

*' It having been stated this morning that the subscriber had 
refused to give the name of the author of the hand-bill above re- 
ferred to (which statement is not true) : to save any farther re- 
marks on this subject, I now state that A. Lincoln, Esq., is the 
author of the hand-bill in question. Simeon Francis. 

" August 7, 1837." 

Messrs. Lincoln and Talhott in reply to Gen. Adams. 

" Sangamo Journal/' Springfield, III., Sept. 9, 1837. 

In the "Republican" of this morning a publication of Gen. 
Adams's appears, in which my name is used quite unreservedly. 
For this I thank the General. I thank him because it gives me an 
opportunity, without appearing obtrusive, of explaining a part of 
a former publication of mine, which appears to me to have been 
misunderstood by many. 

In the former publication alluded to, I stated, in substance, that 
Mr. Talbott got a deed from a son of Gen. Adams's for the purpose 
of correcting a mistake that had occurred on the record of the said 
deed in the recorder's office — that he corrected the record, and 
brought the deed and handed it to me — and that, on opening the 
deed, another paper, being the assignment of a judgment, fell out 
of it. This statement Gen. Adams and the editor of the " Kepubli- 
can," have seized upon as a most palpable evidence of fabrication 
and falsehood. They set themselves gravely about proving that 
the assignment could not have been in the deed when Talbott 
got it from young Adams, as he, Talbott, would have soon it when 
he opened the deed to correct the record. Now, the truth is, Tal- 
bott did see the assignment when he opened the deed, or at least 
he told me he did on the same day; and I only omitted to say so, 
in my former publication, because it was a matter of such palpable 
and necessary inference, I had stated that Talbott had corrected 
the record by the deed; and of course he must have opened it; 
and, just as the General and his friends argue, must have seen the 
assignment. I omitted to state the fact of Talbott's seeing the 
assignment, because its existence was so necessarily connected 
with other facts which I did state, that I thought the greatest 
dunce could not but understand it. Did I say Talbott had not 
seen it? Did I say anything that was inconsistent with his having 
seen it before? IMost certainly I did neither; and if I did not, 
what becomes of the argument? These logical gentlemen cannot 
sustain their argument only by assuming that I did say negatively 
everything that I did not say affirmatively; and upon the same 
assumption, we may expect to find the General, if a little harder 



APPENDIX 271 

pressed for argument, saying that I said Talbott came to oui office 
with his head downward, not that I actually said so, but because 1 
omitted to say he came feet downv/ard. 

In his i)ublication to-day, the General produces the affidavit of 
Reuben Radford, in which it is said that Talbott told Radford that 
he did not find the assignment in the deed, in the recording of 
which the error was omitted, but that he found it wrapped in 
another paper in the recorder's office, upon which statement the 
Genl. comments, as follows, to-wit:- — "If it be true as stated by 
Talbott to Radford, that he found the assignment wrapped up in 
another paper at his office, that contradicts the statement of Lin- 
coln that it fell out of the deed." 

Is common sense to be abused with such sophistry? Did I say 
what Tabott found it in? If Talbott did find it in another paper 
at his office, is that any reason why he could not have folded it in 
a deed and brought it to my office, can any one be so far duped, as 
to be made believe that what may have happened at Talbott's office 
at one time, is inconsistent with what happened at 7ny office at 
another time? 

Now Talbott's statement of the case Ss he makes it to me is this, 
that he got a bunch of deeds from young Adams, and that he knows 
he found the assignment in the bunch, but he is not certain which 
particular deed it was in, nor is he certain whether it was folded 
in the same deed out of which it was took, or another one, when it 
was brought to my office. Is this a mysterious story? Is there 
anything suspicious about it? 

" But it is useless to dwell longer on this point. Any man who 
is not wilfully blind can see at a blush, that there is no discrepancy 
and Lincoln has shown that they are not only inconsistent with 
truth, but each other " — I can only say, that I have shown that he 
has done no such thing; and if the reader is disposed to require 
any other evidence than the General's assertion, he will be of my 
opinion. 

Excepting the General's most flimsy attempt at mystification, in 
regard to a discrepance between Talbott and myself, he has not 
denied a single statement that I made in my hand-bill. Every 
material statement that I made has been sworn to by men who, in 
former times, were thought as respectable as General Adams. I 
stated that an assignment of a judgment, a copy of which I gave, 
had existed — Benj. Talbott, C. R. Matheny, Wm. Butler, and Judge 
Logan, swore to its existence, I stated that it was said to be in Gen. 
Adams's handwriting — the same men swore it was in his handwrit- 
ing. T stated that Talbott would swear that he got it out of Gen. 
Adams's possession — Talbott came forward and did swear it. 

Ridding adieu to the former publication, I now propose to exam- 
ine the General's last gigantic production. T now propose to point 
out some discrepancies in the General's address; and such too, 
as he shall not be able to escape from. Speaking of thr famous as- 
signment, the General says " This last charge, which was their last 



272 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

resort, their dying effort to render my character infamous among 
my fellow citizens, was manufactured at a certain lawyer's office in 
the town, printed at the office of the ' Sangamon Journal,' and 
found its way into the world some time between two days just 
before the last election." Now turn to Mr. Keys's affidavit in 
which you will find the following, (viz.) " I certify that some time 
in May or the early part of June, 1837, I saw at Williams's corner, 
a paper purporting to be an assignment from Joseph Anderson to 
James Adams, which assignment, was signed by a mark to Ander- 
son's name," etc. Now mark, if Keys saw the assignment on the 
last of May or first of June, Gen. Adams tells a falsehood when he 
says it was manufactured just before the election, which was on the 
7th of August; and if it was manufactured just before the elec- 
tion. Keys tells a falsehood when he says he stiw it on the last of 
May or first of June. Either Keys or the General is irretrievably 
in for it; and in the General's very condescending language, I 
say " let them settle it between them." 

Now again, let the reader, bearing in mind that General Adams 
has unequivocally said, in one part of his address, that the charge 
in relation to the assignment was manufactured just before the 
election; turn to the affidavit of Peter S. Weber, where the fol- 
lowing will be found, (viz.) " I, Peter S. Weber, do certify that 
from the best of my recollection, on the day or day after Gen. 
Adams started for the Illinois Rapids, in May last, that I was at 
the house of Gen. Adams, sitting in the kitchen, situated on the 
back part of the house, it being in the afternoon, and that Eenja-' 
min Talbott came around the house, back into the kitchen, and 
appeared wild and confused, and that he laid a package of papers 
on the kitchen table and requested that they should be handed to 
Lucian, He made no apology for coming to the kitchen, nor for 
not handing them to Lucian himself, but showed the token of 
being frightened and confused both in demeanor and speech and 
for what cause I could not apprehend." 

Commenting on Weber's affidavit. Gen. Adams asks, "Why this 
fright and confusion?" I reply that this is a question for the 
General himself. Weber says that it wa-s in May, and if so, it is 
most clear, that Talbott was not frightened on account of the 
assignment, unless the General lies when he says the assignment 
charge was manufactured just before the election. Is it not a 
strong evidence, that the General is not traveling with the pole- 
star of truth in his front, to see him in one part of his address 
roundly asserting that the assignment was manufactured just 
before the election, and then, forgetting that position, procuring 
Weber's most foolish affidavit, to prove that Talbott had been en- 
gaged in manufacturing it two months before? 

In another part of his address, Gon. Adams says, " Tliat T hold 
an assignment of said judgment, dated the 20th of May, 182S, and 
signed by said Anderson, I have never pretended to deny or con- 
ceal, but stated that fact in one of mv circulars previous to the 



APPENDIX 273 

election, and also in answer to a hill in chancery." Now I pro- 
nounce this statement unqualifiedly false, and shall nut rely on the 
word or oath of any man to sustain me m what i say ; but will let 
the whole be decided by reference to the circular and answer in 
chancery of which the General speaks. In his cii'cular he did 
speak of an assignment; but he did not say it bore date 20th oi 
May, 1828; nor did he say it bore any date. In his answer in 
chancery, he did say that he had an assigimient; but he did not 
say that it bore date the 20th May, 1828; but so far from it, he 
said on oath (for he swore to the luiswer) that as well as recollected. 
he obtained it in 1827. If any one doubts, let him examine tlic 
circular and answer for himself They are both accessible. 

It will readily be observed that the principal part of Adams's 
defense, rests upon the argument, that if he had been base enough 
to forge an assignment, he would not huxe been fool enough t<- 
forge one that would not cover the case. This argument he used 
in his circular before the election. The " Republican " has used 
it at least once, since then ; and Adams uses it again in his publi- 
cation of to-day. Now I pledge myself to show that he is just such 
a fool, that he and his friends have contended it was impossible 
for him to be. Recollect — he says he has a genuine assignment; 
and that he got Joseph Klein's affidavit, stating that he had seen it, 
and that he believed the signature to have been executed by the 
same hand, that signed Anderson's name to the answer in Chan- 
cery. Luckily Klein took a copy of this genuine assignment, 
which I have been permitted to see; and hence I know it does not 
coiner the case. In the first place it is headed " Joseph Anderson 
vs. Joseph Miller," and heads oif " Judgment in Sangamon Circuit 
Court." Now, mark, there never was a case in Sangamon Circuit 
Court entitled Joseph Anderson vs. Joseph ]\riller. The case men- 
tioned in my former publication, and the only one between these 
parties that ever existed in the Circuit Court, was entitled Joseph 
Miller vs. Joseph Anderson, Miller being the plaintiff. What then 
becomes of all their sophistry about Adams not being fool enough 
to forge an assignment that would not cover the case? It is cer- 
tain that the present one does not cover the case; and if he got it 
honestly, it is still clear that ho was fool enough to pay for an 
assignment that does not cover the case. 

The General asks for the proof of disinterested witnesses. Who 
does he consider disinterested? None can be more so than those 
who have already testified against him. No one of tliem had the 
least interest on earth, so far as I can learn, to injure him. True, 
he says they had conspired against him ; but if the testimony 
of an angel from Heaven were introduced against him, lie would 
make the same charge of conspiracy. And now I put the ques- 
tion to every reflecting man, do you believe that Benjamin Tal- 
bott, Chas. R. Matheny, William Butler and Stephen T. Logan 
all sustaining high and spotless characters, and justly proud of 
them, would deliberately perjure themselves, without any motive 



2 74 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

whatever, except to injure a man's election; and tliat, too, a mail 
who had been a candidate, time out of mind, and yet who had 
never been elected to any office? 

Adams's assurance, in demanding disinterested testimony, is 
surpassing. He brings in the aHidavit of his own son, and even 
of Peter S. Weber, with whom I am not acquainted, but who, 
I supijose, is some black or mulatto boy, from his being kept in 
the kitchen, to pro've his points; but when such a man as Talbott, a 
man who, but two years ago, run against Gen. Adams for the 
office of Recorder and beat him more than four votes to one, ia 
introduced against him, he asks the community, with all the con- 
sequence of a Lord, to reject his testimony. 

I might easily write a volume, pointing out inconsistencies be- 
tween the statements in Adams's last address with one another, and 
with other known facts; but I am aware the reader must already 
be tired with the length of this article, his opening statements, 
that he was first accused of being a tory, and that he refuted 
that; that then the Sampson's ghost story was got up, and he 
refuted that; that as a last resort, a dying effort, the assignment 
charge was got up is all as false as hell, as all this community 
must know. Sampson's ghost first made its appearance in print, 
and that too, after Keys swears he saw the assignment, as any 
one may see by reference to the files of papers; and Gen. Adams 
himself, in reply to the Sampson's ghost story, was the first man 
that raised the cry of toryism and it was only by way of set oft, 
and never in seriousness that it was banded back at him. His 
effort is to make the impression that his enemies first made the 
charge of toryism and he drove theiii from that, then Sampson's 
gliost, he drove them from that, then finally the assignment chai-ge 
was manufactured just before the election. Now, the only general 
reply he ever made to the Sampson's ghost and tory charges, he 
made at one and the same time, and not in succession as he states; 
and the date of that reply will show, that it was made at least a 
month after tlie date on which Keys swears he saw the Anderson 
assignment. But enough. In conclusion I will only say that I have 
a character to defend as well as Gen. Adams, but 1 disdain to whint 
about it as he does. It is true I have no children nor kitcher 
hoys: and if I had, I should scorn to lug them in to make affida- 
vits for me. A. Lincoln. 

SepteiQber 6, 1837. 

TO THE PUBLIC. 

Sangamo Journal, Springfield, III,, Oct. 28, 1837. 

Such is the turn which things have lately taken, that when Gen. 
Adams writes a book, I am expected to write a commentary on 
it. In the " Republican " of this morning he has presented the world 
with a new work of six columns in length : in consequence of which 



APPENDIX 275 

I must beg the room of one colimin in the '' Journa)." It is ob 
vious that a minute reply cannot be made in one cuiunui to every 
thing that can be said in six; and, consequently, I hope that ex- 
pectation will be answered, if 1 reply to such parts of the GeneraiV 
publication as are worth replying to. 

It may not be improper to remind the reader that in his publica- 
tion of Sept. fith General Adams said that the assignment charger 
was manufactured just before the etection; and that in reply ] 
proved that statement to be false by Keys, his own witness. Now, 
without attempting to explain, he furnishes me with another wit- 
ness (Tinsley; by which the same thing is proved, to wit, that 
the assignment was not manufactured just before the election; 
but that it was some weeks before. Let it be borne in mind that 
Adams made this statement — has himself furnished two witnessco 
to prove its falsehood, and does not attempt to deny or explain it. 
Before going farther, let a pin be stuck here, labeled " one lie 
proved and confessed." On the 6th of September he said he had 
before stated in the hand bill that he held an assignment dated 
May 20th, 1828, which in reply I pronounced to be false, and 
referred to the hand bill for the truth of what I said. This week 
he forgets to make any explanation of this. Let another pin be 
stuck here, labeled as before. I mention these things, because, if, 
when I convict him in one falsehood, he is permitted to shift his 
ground and pass it by in silence, there can be no end to this con- 
troversy. 

The first thing that attracts my attention in the General's pres- 
ent production, is the information he is pleased to give to ^' Those 
who are made to suffer at his (my) hands " 

Under present circumstances, this cannot apply to me, for I 
am not a widow nor an orphan: nor have I a wife or children who 
might by possibility become such. Such, however, I have no 
doubt, have been, and will again be made to suffer at his hands! I 
Hands! Yes, they are the mischievous agents. — The next thing 
I shall notice is his favorite expression, " not of lawyers, doctors 
and others," which he is so fond of applying to all who dare ex- 
pose his rascality. Now, let it be remembered that when he first 
came to this country he attempted to impose himself upon the 
community as a lawyer, and actually carried the attempt so far, 
as to induce a man who was under a charge of murder to entrust 
the defense of his life in his hands, and finally took his money 
and got him hanged. Is this the man that is to raise a breeze 
in his favor by abusing lawyers? If he is not himself a lawyer, it 
is for the lack of sense, and not of inclination^ If he is not a 
lawyer, he is a liar for he proclaimed himself a lawyer, and got 
a man hanged by depending on him. 

Passing over such parts of the article as have neither fact nor 
argument in them, I come to the question asked by Adams 
whether any person ever saw the assignment in his possession 
Jhis is an insult to common sense. Talbott has swor" once and 



2-j() LIFE OF LINCOLN 

repealMl ! ime and again, that he got it out of Adams's possession 
diij retvu-ned it into the same possession. Still, as though he was 
addressing fools, he has assurance to ask if any person ever saw 
It m his possession. — Next I quote a sentence, " Now my son 
Lucian swears that when Talbott called for the deed, that he, Tal- 
bott, opened it and pointed out the error." True. His soa liUcian 
did swear as he says; and in doing so, he swore what I will prove 
by his own affidavit to be a falsehood. Turn to Lucian's affidavit, 
and you will there see that Talbott called for the deed by which 
to correct an error on the record. Thus it appears that the error 
in question was on tlie record, and not in the deed. How then 
could Talbott open the deed and point out the error? Where a 
thing IS not, it cannot be pointed out. The error was not in the 
deed, and of course could not be pointed out there. This does not 
merely prove that the error could not be pointed out, as Lucian 
swore it was; but it proves, too, that the deed was not opened in 
his presence with a special view to the error, for if it had been, 
he could not have failed to see that there was no error in it. It 
is easy enough to see why Lucian swore this. His object was to 
prove that the assignment was not in the deed, when Talbott got 
it: but it was discovered he could not swear this safely, without 
first swearing the deed was opened — and if he swore it was 
opened, he must show a motive for opening it, and the conclusion 
with him and his father was, that the pointing out the error, 
would appear the niost plausible. 

For the purpose of showing that the assignment was not in the 
bundle when Talbott got it, is the story introduced into Lucian's 
affidavit that the deeds were counted. It is a remarkable fact, 
and one that should stand as a warning to all liars and fabricators., 
that in this short affidavit of Lucian's, he only attempted to depart 
from the truth, so far as I have the means of knowing, in two 
points, to- wit, in the opening the deed and, pointing out the error; 
and the counting of the deeds, — and in both of these he caught 
himself. Abotit the counting, he caught himself thus — after say- 
ing the bundle contained five deeds and a lease, he proceedSs 
" and I saw no other papers than the said deed and lease." First 
he has siz papers, and then he saw none but two for " my son 
Lucian's"' benefit, let a pin be stuck here. 

Adams again adduces the argument, that he could not have 
forged the assignment, for the reason that he could have had no 
motive for it. With those that know the facts there is no ab' 
sence of motive. Admitting the paper, which he has filed in the 
suit to bo genuine, it is clear that it cannot answer the purpose 
for which he designs it. Hence his motive for making one that 
he supposed would answer, is obvious. — His making the date too 
old is also easily enough accounted for. The records were not in 
his hands, and then there beinp some considerable talk upon this 
particular subject, he knew he could not examine tlie records to 
ascertain the precise dates without subjecting himself to sua- 



APPENDIX 277 

jjioion; and Lerjce he concluded to try it by guess, ana as it turn«?d 
out, mibsed it a little. About Miller's deposition, 1 hare a word tu 
Bay. In the first place, Miller's answer to the first question shows 
upon, its face, that he had been tampered with, and the answei 
dictated to him. He was asked if he knew Joel Wright and 
James Adams; and above three-fourths of his ans\ver consists 
of what he knew about Joseph Anderson, a man about whom 
nothing had been asked, nor a word said in the question — a fact 
that can only be accounted for upon the supposition, that Adams 
had secretly told him what he wished him to swear to. 

Another of Miller's answers I will prove both by common sense 
and the Court of Record is untrue. To one question he answers, 
" Anderson brought a suit against me before James Adams, then 
an acting Justice of the Peace in Sangamon County, before whom 
he obtained a judgment. 

Q.— Did you remove the same by injunction to the Sangamon 
Circuit Court? Ans. — I did remove it. Now mark —it is said 
he removed it by injunction. The word "injunction" in common 
language imports a command that some person or thing shall not 
move or be removed; in law it has the same meaning. An in- 
junction issuing out of Chancery to a Justice of the Peace, is a 
command to him to stop all proceedings in a named case until 
further orders. It is not an order to remove but to stop or stay 
something that is already moving. Besides this, the records of the 
Sangamon Circuit Court show, that the judgment of which Miller 
swore was never removed into said Court by injunction or other- 
wise. 

I have now to take notice of a part of Adams's address which in 
the order of time should have been noticed before. It is in these 
words, " I have now shown, in ths opinion of two competent 
judges, that the handwriting of the forged assignment differed from 
mine, and l>y one of them that it could not he mistaken for mine." 
That is false- Tinsley no doubt is the judge referred to; and by 
reference to his certificate it will be seen that he did not say the 
handwriting of the assignment could not be mistaken for Adams's — ■ 
nor did he use any other expression substantially, or anything near 
substantially the same. But if Tinsley had said the handwriting 
could not be mistaken for Adams's, it would have been equally 
unfortunate for Adams: for it then would have contradicted 
Keys, who says, "I looked at the writing and judged it the said 
Adams's or a good imitation.^' 

Adams speaks with much apparent confidence oJc his success on 
attending law suits, and the ultimate maintenance of his title to 
the land in question. Without wisliing to disturb the pleasure of 
his dream, I would say to him that it is not impossible, that he 
may yet be taught to sing a diifereiit song in relation to the 
matter. 

At the end of Miller's deposition, Adams asks, "Will Mr. Lin- 
■:oln now say that he is ahnoct convinced my title to tJiis ten acre 



78 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



Ivdct of land is founded in fraud ? " I answer, I will not. 1 will 
now change the phraseology so as to make it run — I am quite 
convinced, &c. I cannot pass in silence Adams's assertion that 
he has proved that the forged assignment was not in the deed 
when it came from his house by Talhott, the Recorder, In this, 
although Talbott has sworn that the assignment was in the bundle 
of deed when it came from his house, Adams has the unaccountable 
assurance to say that he has proved the contrary by Talbott. 
Let him or his friends attempt to show, wherein he proved any 
such tiling by Talbott. 

In his publication of the 6th of September he hinted to Tal- 
bott, that he might he mistaken. In his present, speaking of Tal- 
bott and me he says " They may have been imposed upon" Can 
any man of the least penetration fail to see the object of this? 
After he has stormed and raged till he hopes and imagines he has 
got us a little scared lie wishes to softly whisper in our ears, " If 
you'll quit I will." If he could get us to say, that some unknown, 
undefined being had slipped the assignment into our hands without 
our knowledge, not a doubt remains but that he would immedi- 
ately discover, that we were the purest men on earth. This is 
the ground he evidently wishes us to understand he is willing 
to compromise upon. But we ask no such charity at his hands. 
We are neither mistaken nor imposed upon. We have made the 
statements we have, because we know them to be true and we 
choose to live or die by them. 

Esq. Carter, who is Adams's friend, personal and political, will 
recollect, that, on the 5th of this month, he, (Adams) with a 
great affectation of modesty, declared that he would never intro- 
duce his own child as a witness. Notwithstanding this affectation 
of modesty, he has in his present publication introduced his child 
as witness ; and as it to show with ho' • much contemjpt he could 
treat his o\vn declaration, he has had this same Esq. Carter to 
administer the oath to Linio And so important a witness does he 
consider him, and so entirely docs the whole of his entire present 
production depend upon the testimony of his child, that in it he 
has mentioned "■ my son,'' " my son Lucian," " Lucian, my son," 
and the like expressions no less than fifteen different times. Let 
it be remembered here, that I have shown the affidavit of " my 
darling son Lucian " to be false by the evidence apparent on 
its own face; and I now ask if that affidavit be taken away what 
foundation will the fabric have left to stand upon? 

General Adams's publications and out-door niaiieuvrlng taken in 
connection with the editorial articles of the '•'Republican," are not 
more foolish and contradictory than they arc ludicrous and amus' 
ing. One week the " Republican " notifies the public that Gen. 
Adams is preparing an instrument that will tear, rend, sjilit, rive, 
blow up, confound, overwhehn, annihilate, extinguish, exterminate, 
burst asunder, and grind to powder all its slanderers, and particu- 
larly Talbott and Lincoin — all of which is to be done in due time. 



APPENDIX 279 

Then for two or three weeks all is calm- — not a word ^did. Again 
the " Republican " comes forth with a mere passing remark that 
" Public opinion has decided in favor of Gen. Adams," and inti- 
mates that he will give himself no more trouble about the matter. 
In the meantime Adams himself is prowling about, and as Burng 
says of the Devil, " For prey, a' holes and corners tryin'," and 
in one instance, goes so far as to take an old acquaintance of mine 
several steps from a crowd and apparently weighed down with 
the importance of his business, gravely and solemnly asks him if 
"he ever heard Lincoln say he was a deist." Anon the "Repub- 
lican" comes again, "We invite the attention of the public to 
General Adams's communication," &c., " The victory is a great 
one," " The triumph is overwhelming." (I really believe the edi- 
tor of the Illinois " Republican " is fool enough to think General 
Adams is an honest man.) Then Gen. Adams leads off — '' Authors 
most egregioasly inistaken" &e., " most wofully shall their pre- 
sumption he punished," &c. (Lord, have mercy on us.) " The hoar 
is yet to come, yea nigh at hand — (how long first do you rec;kon?) 
— when the 'Journal' and its junto shall say, I have appeared too 
early." — " Then infamy shall he laid hare to the puhlic gaze" Sud- 
denly the Gen. apjicars to relent at the severity with which he is 
treating us and he exclaims, " The condemnation of my enemies 
is the inevitable result of my oivn defense." For your health's 
sake dear Gen., do not permit your tenderness of heart to atHict 
you &o mucli on our account. For some reason (perhaps because we 
are killed so quickly) we shall never be sensible of our suffering. 

Farewell, General. I will see you again at Court, if not before — 
when and where we will settle the question whether you or the 
widow shall have the land. , A. Lincolh. 

October 18, 1837. 

SPEECH BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN BEFORE THE ILLI- 
NOIS LEGISLATURE IN JANUARY, 1837. 

In the House of Representatives, upon the resolution offered hy 
Mr. Linder, to institute an enquiry into the management of 
the affairs of the State Bank. 

Mr. CHAreMAN : Lest I should fall into the too common error, of 
being mistaken in regard to which side I design to be upon, I shall 
make it my first care to remove all doubt on that point, by declar- 
ing that I am opposed to the resolution under consideration, in 
toto. Before I proceed to the body of the subject, I will further 
remark, that it is not withoiit a considerable degree of appre- 
hension, that I venture to cross the track of the gentleman from 
Coles (Mr. Binder). Indeed, I do not believe I could nuister a 
sufiiciency of courage to come in contact wiih that gentlcMnnn, were 
it not for the fact, that he, some days since, n^ost graciously con- 
descended to assure us that he would never be found wasting am- 



28o LIFE OF LINCOLN 

munition on small game. On the same fortunate occasion^ he 
further gave us to understand, tliat he regarded himself as be- 
ing decidedly the superior of our common friend from Randolph 
(Mr. Shields) ; and feeling, as I really do, that I, to say the most 
of myself, am nothing more than the peer of our friend from Rsy- 
dolph, I shall regard the gentleman from Coles as decidedly m> 
superior also, and consequently, in the course of what I shall 
have to say, whenever I shall have occasion to allude to that gen- 
tleman, I shall endeavor to adopt that kind of court language 
which 1 understand to be due to decided superiority. In one 
faculty, at least, there can be no dispute of the gentleman's su- 
periority over me, and most other men; and that is, the faculty of 
entangling a subject, so that neither himself, or any other man, 
can find head or tail to it. Here he has introduced a resolution, 
embracing ninety-nine printed lines across common writing paper, 
and yet more than one-half of his opening speech has been made 
upon subjects about which there is not one word said in his reso- 
lution. 

Though his resolution embraces nothing in regard to the con- 
stitutionality of the Bank, much of what he has said has been 
with a view to make the impression that it was unconstitutional 
in its inception. Now, although I am satisfied that an ample field 
may be found within the pale of the resolution, at least for small 
game, yet as the gentleman has travelled out of it, I feel that I 
may, with all due humility, venture to follow him. The gentle- 
man has discovered that some gentleman at Washington city has 
been upon the very eve of deciding our Bank unconstitutional, 
and that he would probably have completed his very authentic 
decision, had not some one of the Bank officers placed his hand 
upon his mouth, and begged him to withhold it. The fact that 
the individuals composing our Supreme Court, have, in an official 
capacity, decided in favor of the constitutionality of the Bank, 
would, in my mind, seem a sufficient answer to this. It is a fact 
known to all, that the members of the Supreme Court, together 
with the Governor, form a Council of Revision, and that this 
Council approved this Bank Charter. I ask, then, if the extra- 
judicial decision — not quite, but almost m^ade, by the gentleman 
at Washington, before whom, by the way, the question of the 
constitutionality of our Bank never has, nor never can come — 
is to be taken as paramount to a decision officially m.^de by that 
tribunal, by which and which alone, the constitutionality of the 
Bank can never be settled? But aside from this view of the sub- 
ject, I would ask, if the committee which this resolution proposes 
to appoint, are to examine into the constitutionality of the Bank? 
Are they to be clothed with power to send for persons and papers^ 
for this object? And after they have found the Bank to be 
unconstitutional, and decided it so, how are they to enforce their 
decision? What will their decision amount to? They cannot 
compel the Bank to cea^^ oncrations, or to change the course of it^ 



APPENDIX 281 

operations. What good, then, can their labors result in? Cer- 
tainly none. 

The gentleman asks, if we, without an examination, shall, 
by giving the State deposits to the Bank, and by taking the stock 
reserved for the State, legalize its former misconduct? Now 1 
do not pretend to possess sufficient legal knowledge to decide, 
whether a legislative enactment, proposing to, and accepting from, 
the Bank, certain terms, which would have the effect to legalize 
or wipe out its former errors, or not; but I can assure the gen- 
tleman, if such should be the effect, he has already got behind 
the settlement of accounts; for it is well known to all, that the 
Legislature, at its last session, passed a supplemental Bank char- 
ter, which the Bank has since accepted, and which, according to his 
doctrine, has legalized all the alleged violations of its original 
charter in the distribution of its stock. 

I now proceed to the resolution. By examination it will be found 
that, the first thirty-three lines, being precisely one-third of the 
whole, relate exclusively to the distribution of the stock by the 
commissioners appointed by the State. Now, Sir, it is clear that 
no question can arise on this portion of the resolution, except 
a question between capitalists in regard to the ownership of stock. 
Some gentlemen have their stock in their hands, while others, 
who have more money, than they know what to do with, want it; 
and this, and this alone, is the question, to settle which we are 
called on to squander thousands of the people's money. What 
interest, let me ask, have the people in the settlement of this ques- 
tion? What difference is it to them whether the stock is owned 
by Judffe Smith or Sam Wiggins? If any gentleman be entitled 
to stock in the Bank, which he is kept out of possession of by 
others, let him assort his right in the Supreme Court, and let him 
or his antagonist, whichever may be found in the wrong, pay the 
costs of suit. It is an old maxim and a very sound one, that he 
that dances should always pay the fiddler New, Sir, in the pres- 
ent case, if any gentlemen, whose money is a burden to them, 
choose to lead off a dance, I am decidedly opposed to the people's 
.money being used to pay the fiddler. No one can doubt that the 
.examination proposed by this resolution, must cost the State 
some ten or twelve thousand dollars ; and all this to settle a question 
in which the people have no interest, and about which they care 
nothing. These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in con- 
cert, to fleece the people, and now, that they have got into a quar- 
rel with themselves, we are called upon to appropriate the people's 
money to settle the quarrel. 

I leave this part of the resolution and proceed to the remainder. 
It will be found that no charge in the remaining part of the reso- 
lution, if true, amounts to the violation of the Bank charter, 
except one, which I will notice in due time. It might seem quite 
sufficient to say no more upon any of these charges or insinua- 
tions, than enough to show they ar*» r\ot violations of the charter; 



282 LIFE OP LINCOLN 

yet, as they are ingeniously framed and handled, with a view to 
deceive and mislead, I will notice in their order, all the most 
prominent of them. The first of these is in relation to a con- 
nection between our Bank and several Banking institutions in other 
States. Admitting this connection to exist, 1 should like to see 
the gentleman from Coles, or any other gentleman, undertake to 
show that there is any harm in it. What can there be in such a 
connection, that the people of Illinois are willing to pay their 
money to get a peep into^ By a reference to the tenth section of 
the Bank charter, any gentleman can see that the framers of the 
act contemplated the holding of stock in the institutions of other 
corporations. Why, then, is it, when neither law nor justice for- 
bids it, that we are asked to spend out time and money, in inquir- 
ing into its truth ? 

The next charge, in the order of time, is, that some officer, di- 
rector, clerk or servant of the Bank, has been required to take 
an oath of secrecy in relation to the affairs of said Bank. Now, 
1 do not know whether this be true or false- — neither do I believe 
any honest man cares. I know that the seventh section of the 
charter expressly guarantees to the Bank the right of making, 
under certain restrictions, such by-laws as it may think fit ; and I 
further know that the requiring an oath of secrecy would not 
transcend those restrictions. What, then, if the Bank has chosen 
to exercise this right? Who can it injure? Does not every mer- 
chant have his secret mark? and who is ever silly enough to com- 
plain of it ? I presume if the Bank does require any such oath of 
secrecy, it is done through a motive of delicacy to those indi- 
viduals who deal with it. Why, sir, not many days since, one 
'gentleman upon this floor, who, by the way I have no doubt is now 
ready to join this hue and cry against the Bank, indulged in a 
phillippic against one of the Bank officials, because, as he said, 
he had divulged a secret. 

Inunediately following this last charge, there are several in- 
sinuations in the resolution^ which are too silly to require any 
sort of notice, were it not for the fact, that they conclude by 
saying, " to the great injury of the people at large." In answer 
to this I would say that it is strange enough, that the people 
are suffering these " great injuries," and yet are not sensible of 
it ! Singular indeed that the people should be writhing under op- 
pression and injury, and yet not one among them to be found, to 
raise tlie voice of complaint. If the Bank be inflicting injury 
upon the people, why is it, that not a single petition is presented to 
this body on the subject? If the Bank really be a grievance, 
why is it, that no one of tlie real people is found to ask redress 
of it? The truth is, no such oppression exists. If it did, our 
people would groan with memorials and petitions, and we would 
not be permitted to rest day or night, till we had put it down The 
people know their rights, and they are never slow to assert and 
maintain them, when they are invaded. L^t *hem call for ai) 



APPENDIX 28 



J 



investigation, and I shall ever stand ready to respond tc the call 
But they have made no such call. I make the assertion boldly, and 
without fear o.t" contradiction, that no man, who does not hold an 
office, or does not aspire to one, has ever found any fault of the 
Bank. It has doubled the prices of the products of their farms, 
and filled their pockets with a sound circulating medium, and they 
are all well pleased with its operations. No, Sir, it is the politician 
who is the first to sound the alarm, (which, by the way, is a false 
one.) It is he, who, by these unholy means, is endeavoring to 
blow up a storm that he raay ride upon and direct. It is he, 
and he alone, that here proposes to spend thousands of the people's 
public treasure, for no other advantage to them, than to make 
valueless in their pockets the reward of their industry. Mr. 
Chairman, this work is exclusively the work of politicians; a set 
of men who have interests aside from the interests of the people, 
and who, to say the most of them, are, taken as a mass, at least 
one long step removed from honest men. I say this with the 
greater freedom, because, being a politician myself, none can 
regard it as personal. 

Again, it is charged, or rather insinuated, that officers of the 
Bank ha^^e loaned money at usurious rates of interest. Suppose 
this to be true, are we to send a committee of this House to 
enquire into it? Suppose the committee should find it true, can 
they redress the injured individuals? Assuredly not. If any 
individual had been injured in this way, is there not an ample 
■remedy to be found in the laws of the land? Does the gentleman 
from Coles know, that there is a statute standing in full force, 
making it highly penal, for an individual to loan money at a higher 
rate of interest than twelve per cent? If he does not he is too 
ignorant to be placed at the head of the connnittee which his 
resolution proposes; and if he does, his neglect to mention it, 
shows him to be too uncandid to merit the respect or confidence of 
any one. 

But besides all this, if the Bank were struck from existence, 
could not the owners of the capital still loan it usuriously, as well 
as now? Whatever the Bank, or its officers, may have done, I 
know that usurious transactions were much more frequent and 
enormous, before the commencement of its operations, than they 
have ever been since. 

The next insinuation is, that the Bank has refused specie pay- 
ments. This, if true, is a violation of the chartoi'. But there is 
not the least probability of its truth; because, if such had been 
the fact, the individual to whom payment was refused, would 
have had an interest in making it public, by suing for the dam- 
ages to which the charter entitles him. Yet no such thing has 
been done; and the strong presumption is, that the insinuation ia 
false and groundless. 

From this to the end of the resolution, there is nothing that 
merits attention — I therefore drop the particular examination of it 



284 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

By a general view of the resolution, it will be seen that a prin- 
cipal objcx;t of the committee is, to examine into, and ferret out, 
a mass of corruption, supposed to have been committed by the 
commissioners who apportioned the stock of the Bank. I be- 
lieve it is universally understood and acknowledged, that all men 
will ever act correctly, unless they have a motive to do otherwise. 
If this be true, we can only suppose that the commissioners acted 
corruptly, by also supposing that they v.-ere bribed to do so. Tak- 
ing this view of the subject, I would ask if the Bank is likely to 
find it more difficult to bribe the committee of seven, which we 
are about to appoint, than it may have found it to bribe the com- 
missioners ? 

(Here Mr. Linder called to order. The Chair decided that Mr. 
Lincoln was not out of order. Mr, Linder appealed to the House; 
— but before the question was put, withdrew his appeal, saying, he 
preferred to let the gentleman go on; he thought he would break 
his own neck. Mr. Lincoln proceeded) — 

Another gracious condescension, I acknowledge it with grati- 
tude. I know I was not out of order; and I know every sensible 
man in the House knows it. I was not saying that the gentleman 
from Coles could not ( ?) be bribed, nor, on the other hand, will I 
say he could not. In that particular I leave him where I found 
him. I was only endeavoring to show that there was at least as 
great a probability of any seven members that could be selected 
from this House, being bribed to act corruptlj% as there was, that 
the twenty-four commissioners had been so bribed. By a ref- 
erence to the ninth section of the Bank charter, it will be seen 
that those commissioners were John Tilson, Robert K. McLaugh- 
lin, Daniel Wann, A. G. S. Wight, John C. Riley, W. H. David- 
son, Edward M. Wilson, Edward L. Pierson, Robert R. Green, 
Ezra Baker, Aquilla Wren, John Taylor, Samuel C. Christy, Ed- 
mund Roberts, Benjamin Godfrey, Thomas Mather, A. M. Jenkins, 
W. Linn, W. S. Gilman, Charles Prentice, Richard I. Hamilton, 
A. H. Buckner, W. F. Thornton, and Edmund D. Taylor. 

These are twenty-four of the most respectable men in the State. 
Probably no twenty-four men could be selected in the State, with 
whom the people are better acquainted, or in whose honor and 
integrity, they would more readily place confidence. And I now 
repeat, that there is less probability that those men havo caen 
bribed and corrupted, than that aiiy seven men, or rather any 
six men, that could be selected from the members of this House, 
might be so bribed and corrupted ; even though they were headed 
and led on by " decided superiority " himself. 

In all seriousness, I ask every reasonable man, if an issue be 
joined by these twenty-four commissioners, on the one part, and 
any other seven men, on the other part, and the whole depend 
upon the honor and integrity of the contending parties, to which 
party would the greatest degree of credit be due? Again: An- 
other consideration is, that we have no right to make the exam- 



APPENDIX 2S5 

ination. What I shall say upon this head, I design exclusively 
for the law-loving and law-abiding part of the House. To those 
who claim omnipoteiice for the Legislature, and who in the plenti- 
tude of their assumed powers, are disposed to disregard the Con- 
stitution, law, good faith, moral right, and every thing else, i 
have not a word to say. But to the law-abiding part I say, examine 
the Bank charter, go examine the Constitution; go examine the 
acts that the General Assembly of this State has passed, and you 
will find just as much authority given in each and every of them, 
to compel the Bank to bring its coffers to this hall, and to pour 
their contents upon this floor, as to compel it to submit to this 
examination which this resolution proposes. Why, sir, the gen- 
tleman from Coles, the mover of this resolution, very lately denied 
on this floor, that the Legislature had any right to repeal, or other- 
wise meddle with its own acts, when those acts were made in the 
nature of contracts, and had been accepted and acted on by other 
parties. Now I ask, if this resolution does not propose, for this 
House alone, to do, what he, but the other day, denied the right 
of the whole Legistature to do ? He must either abandon the posi- 
tion he then took, or he must now vote against his own resolution. It 
is no difference to me, and I presume but little to any one else, 
which he does. 

I am by no means the special advocate of the Bank. I have 
long thought that it would be well for it to report its condition to 
the General Assembly, and that cases might occur, when it might 
he proper to make an examination of its affairs by a committee. 
Accordingly, during the last session, while a bill supplemental to 
the Bank charter, was pending before the House, I offered an 
amendment to the same, in these words: "The said corporation 
shall, at the next session of the General Assembly, and at each 
subsequent Greneral Session, during the existence of its charter, 
report to the same the amount of debts due from said corpora- 
tion; the amount of debts due to the same; the amount of specie 
in its vaults, and an account of all lands then owned by the same, 
and the amount for which such lands have been taken; and more- 
over, if said corporation shall at any time neglect or refuse to 
submit its books, papers, and all and every thing necessary, for a 
full and fair examination of its affairs, to any person or persons 
appointed by the General Assembly, for the purpose of making 
such examination, the said corporation shall forfeit its charter." 

This amendment was negatived by a vote of 34 to 15. Eleven 
of the 34 who voted against it, are now members of this House; 
and though it would be out of order to call their names, I hope 
they will all recollect themselves, and not vote for this examina- 
tion to be made without authority, inasmuch as they refused to 
receive the authority when it was in their power to dn so. 

I have said that cases might occur, when an examination might 
be proper; but I do not believe any such case has now occurred; 
and if it has, I should still be opposed to making an examinatioD 



286 LIFE OP LINCOLN 

without legal authority. I am opposed to encouraging that law- 
less and mobocratic spirit, whether in relation to the Bank or any 
thing else, which is already abroad in the land; and is spreading 
with rapid and fearful impetuosity, to the ultimate overthrow of 
every institution, of even moral principle, in which persons and 
property have hitherto found security. 

But supposing we had the authority, I would ask what good 
can result from the examination? Can we declare the Bank un- 
constitutional, and compel it to desist from the abuses of its 
power, provided we find such abuses to exist? Can we repair the 
injuries which it may have done to individuals? Most certainly 
we can do none of these things. Why then shall we spend the 
public money in such employment? O, say the examiners, we 
can injure the credit of the Bank, if nothing else. — Please tell me, 
gentlemen, who will suffer most by that? You cannot injure, to 
any extent, the stockholders. They are men of wealth — of large 
capital; and consequently, beyond the power of malice. But by 
injuring the credit of the Bank, you will depreciate the value of 
its paper in the hands of the honest and unsuspecting farmer and 
mechanic, and that is all you can do. But suppose you could 
affect your whole purpose; suppose you could wipe the Bank 
from existence, which is the grand ultimatum of the project, what 
would be the consequence? Why, sir, we should spend several 
thousand dollars of the public treasure in the operation, annihi- 
late the currency of the State; render valueless in the hands of 
our people that reward of their former labors ; and finally, be once 
more imd-^r the comfortable obligation of jiaying the Wiggins' 
loan, principal and interest. 

(The foregoing' speech is f(iund in the Sanganio "Journal" of 
January 28, 1837. It was copied by tlie "Journal" fronx the Van- 
dalia " Free Press.") 

Springfield, June 11th, 1839. 
Dear Kow: — 

l^fr. Rodman informs me that you wish me to write you the 
particulars of a conversation between Dr. Felix and myself rela- 
tive to you. The Dr. overtook me between Rushville and Beards- 
town. He, after learning that I had lived at Springfield,^ asked 
if I was acquainted with you. I told him I was. He said you 
had lately been elected constable in Adams, but that you never 
would be again. I asked him why? He said the people there, 
had found out that you had been Sheriff or Deputy Sheriff in 
Sangamon County, and that you came off and left your securities 
to suffer. He then asked me if T did not know such to be the fact. 
^ told him I did not think you had ever been Shei-iff or Deputy 
Sheriff in Sangamon; but that T thought you had been consta- 
ble. I further told him that if you had left your securities to 
suffer in that or any other case, I had never heard of it, and that 
if it had been so, I thought T would have heard of it. 



APPENDIX 28-/ 

If the Dr. is telling that I told him anything against you what- 
ever, I authorize you to contradict it flatly. We have no news here. 

Your friend, as ever, 

A, Lincoln. 
(Original owned by C. F. Gunthcr, Chicago, III.) 

SpRiNGFiKLD, III., Feby. 16, 1842. 
G. B. Sheledy, Esqr. : 

Yours of the 10th is duly received. Judge Logan and myseli 
are doing business together now, and we are willing to attend 
to your cases as you propose — As to the terms, we are willing to 
attend each case you prepare and send us for $10 (when there shall 
be no opposition) to be sent in advance, or you to know that it 
is safe — It takes $5.75 of cost to start upon, that is, $1.75 to 
clerk, and $2 to each of two publishers of papers — Judge Logan 
thinks it will take the balance of $20 to carry a case through — 
This must be advanced from time to time as the services are per- 
formed, as the officers will not act without — I do not know 
whether you can be admitted an attorney of the Federal court 
in your absence or not; nor is it material, as the business can 
be done in our names. 

Thinking it may aid you a little, I send you one of our blank 
forms of Petitions — It, you will see, is framed to be sworn to 
before the Federal court clerk, and, in your eases, will have (to) 
be so far changed, as to be sworn to before the clerk of your cir- 
cuit court; and his certificate must be accompanied with his offi- 
cial seal — The schedules too, must be attended to — Be sure 
that they contain the creditors names, their residences, the 
amounts due each, the debtors names, their residences, and the 
amounts they owe, also all property and where located. 

Also be sure that the schedules are signed by the applicants 
as well as the Petition. 

Publication will have to be made here in one paper, and in one 
nearest the residence of the applicant. Write us in each case 
where the last advertisement is to be sent, whether to you or to 
what paper. 

I believe I have now said everything that can be of any ad- 
vantage. Your friend, as ever, 

A. LiXCOLN. 

(Original owned by Historical Dep't of Iowa, loaned by the 
Hon, Charles Aldrich, curator, Des Moines, Iowa.) 

February 22, 1842. 
To George E. Pickett. 

• •••••«•••• 

I never encourage deceit, and falsehood, especially if you have 
got a bad memory, is the worst enemy a fellovv' can have. The 
fact is truth is your truest friend, no matter what the circum- 



2SS LIFE OF LINCOLN 

stances are. Notwithstanding this copy-book preamble, my bt>y, 
I am inclined to suggest a little prudence on your part. You sea 
I have a congenital aversion to failure, and the sudden announce- 
ment to your Uncle Andrew of the success of your " lamp-rubbing " 
might possibly prevent your i^assing the severe physical examina- 
tion to which you will be subjected in order to enter the Military 
Academy, You see, I should like to have a perfect soldier cred- 
ited to dear old Illinois — no broken bones, scalp wounds, etc. So 
I think perhaps it might be wise to Land this letter from me, in 
to your good uncle through his room-window after he has had a 
comfortable dinner, and watch its effect from the top of the pigeon- 
house. 

I have just told the folks here in Springfield on this 111th an- 
niversary of the birth of him whose :iame, mightiest in the cause 
of civil liberty, still mightiest in the cause of moral reformation, 
we mention in solemn awe, in naked, deathless splendor, that 
the one victory we can ever call complete will be that one which 
proclaims that there is not one slave or one drunkard on the face 
of God's green earth. Recruit for this victory. 

Now, boy, on your march, don't you go and forget the old maxim 
that " one drop of honey catches more flies than a half -gallon of 
gall." Load your musket with this maxim, and smoke it in your 
pipe. 

(Original owned by Lasaile Corbell Pickett. Extracts published 
in "'Pickett & His Men.") 

Springfield, August 15, 1842. 
Friend Walker : 

Enclosed you have an order of court allowing your assignee to 
sell your property on a credit. Nothing is said in it about allow- 
ing your creditors pay for what they may purchase without money. 
We however, think this a matter of no consequence; as it will be 
a matter of course to take their bonds and security, as of other 
piirchasers, and then, in the final settlement, to set off their divi- 
dends against those bonds in whole or as far as they will go. 

Yours, (tc, 

LooAN & Lincoln. 

(Original owned by J. H. Franklin, Lacon, 111.) 

John Bennett. 

Springfield, March 7, 1843. 
Friend Bennett : 

Your letter of this day was handed me by Mr. Miles — It is toe 
late now to effect the object you desire — On yesterday morning 
the most of the whig members from this District got together and 



APPENDIX 2S9 

agreed to hold the convention at Tremont in Tazewell County— 
1 am sorry to hear that any of the whigs of your Couiity, or in- 
deed of any County, should longer be against conventions. — • 
On last Wednesday evening a meeting of all the whigs then 
here from all parts of the state was held, and the question of the 
propriety of conventions was brought up and fully discussed, and 
at the end of the discussion a resolution recommending the sys- 
tem of conventions to all the whigs of the state was unanimously 
adopted — Other resolutions were also passed, all of which wiU 
ajjpear in the next Journal. 'Jlie meeting also appointed a com 
mittee to draft an address to the people of the state, vv'hich ad- 
dress will also appear in the next Journal. 

In it you will find a brief argument in favor of conventions — ana 
although 1 wrote it myself I will say to you that it is conclusive 
upon the point and can not be reasonably answered. The right 
way for you to do is hold your meeting and appoint delegates any 
how, and if there be any who will not take i^art, let it be so. — ■ 
The matter will work so well this time that even they who now 
oppose will come in next time. 

The convention is to be held at Tremont on the 5th of April and 
according to the rule we have adopted your County is to have dele- 
gates — being double the number of your representation — 

If there be any good whig who is dis^Dosed to stick out against 
conventions get him at least to read the argument in their favor 
in the address. 

Yours as ever. 

(Original owned by E. B. Oeltjen, Petersburg, 111.) 

Springbield, May 11th, 1843. 
Friend Hardin: 

Butler informs me that he received a letter from you, in which 
you expressed some doubt whether the whigs of Sangamon will 
support you cordially — You may, at once, dismiss all fears on 
that subject — We have already resolved to make a particular 
effort to give you the very largest majority possible in our coun- 
ty — From this, no whig of the county dissents — We liave 
many objects for doing it. We make it a matter of honor and 
pride to do it; we do it, because we love the whig cause; we do 
it, because we like you personally; and last, we wish to convince 
you, that we do not bear that hatred to Morgan county, that 
you people have so long seemed to imagine. You will see by the 
journal of this week, that we propose, upon pain of losing a Bar- 
becue, to give you twice as great a majority in this county as you 
shall receive in your own. I got up the proposal. 

Who of the five appointed, is to write the District address? I 
did the labor of writing one address this year; and got thunder 
for my reward. Nothing new here. Yours as eve^, 

1, Lincoln. 
(19) 



290 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



P. S. — I wish you would measure one of the largest of those 
swords, we took to Alton, and write me the length of it, from tip 
of the point to tip of the hilt, in feet and inches, I have a dispute 
about the length. A. L. 

(Original owned by Ellen Hardin Walworth, New York City.) 

This memorandum witnesseth that Charles Dresser and Abraham 
Lincoln of Springfield, Illinois, have contracted with each other as 
follows : 

The said Dresser is to convey to or procure to be conveyed to said 
Lincoln, by a clear title in fee simple, the entire premises (ground 
and improvements) in Springfield, on which said Dresser now re- 
sides, and give him possession of said premises, on or before the 
first day of April next — for which said Lincoln, at or before the 
same day, is to pay to said Dresser twelve hundred dollars, or what 
said Dresser shall then at his option, accept as equivalent thereto; 
and also to procure to be conveyed to said Dresser, by a clear title 
in fee simple, the entire premises (ground and building) in Spring- 
field, on the block immediately West of the Public square, the 
building on which is now occupied by H. A. Hough as a shop, being 
the same premises some time since conveyed by N. W. Edwards and 
wife to said Lincoln and Stephen T. Logan — Said Dresser takes 
upon himself to arrange with said Hough for the possession of said 
shop and premises. 

Charles Dressep 

Jan'y 16, 1844. A. Lincoln. 

(Signed duplicates.) 

(Original on file in Springfield, 111.) 

Springfield, May 21, 1S44. 
Dear Hardin: 

Knowing that you have correspondents enough, I have forborne 
to trouble you heretofore; and I now only do so, to get you to 
set a matter right which has got wrong with one of our best 
friends. It is old uncle Thomas Campbell of Spring Creek — (Ber- 
lin P. O.) He has received several documents from you, and he 
says they are old newspapers and documents, having no sort of 
interest in them. He is, therefore, getting a strong impression 
that you treat him with disrespect. This, I know, is a mistaken 
impression ; and you must correct it. Tlie way, I leave to your- 
self. Kob't W. Canfield, says lie would like to have a document 
or two from you. 

The Locos here are in considerable trouble about Van Buren's 
letter 011 Texas, and the Virginia electors. Thoy are growing sick 
of the Tariff question; and consequently are much confounded at 
V. B.'s cutting them off from the new Texas question. Nearly 
half the leaders swear they wont stand it. Of those are Ford, T. 



APPENDIX 



291 



Campbell, Ewing, Calhoun and others. They don't exactly say 
they won't vote for V. B., but they say he will not be the candi- 
date, and that they are for Texas anyhow. As ever yours, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Ellen Hardin Walworth, New York City.) 

To General John J. Hardin. 

Springfield^ January 19, 1845. 
Dear General: 

I do not wish to join in your proposal of a new plan for the 
selection of a whig candidate for Congress, because — 

1st. I am entirely satisfied with the old system under which 
you and Baker were successively nominated and elected to Con- 
gress; and because the Whigs of ihe District are well aecjuainted 
with the system, and so far as I know or believe, are well satisfied 
with it. If the old system be thought to be vague, as to all the 
delegates of the county voting the same way; or as to instructions 
to them as to whom they are to vote for; or as to filling vacan- 
cies, — I am willing to joi in a provision to make these matters 
certain. 

2nd. As to your proposals that a poll shall be opened in every 
precinct, and that the whole shall take place on the same day, I 
do not personally object. They seem to me to be not unfair; and I 
forbear to join in proposing them, only because I choose to leave 
the decision in each county to the Whigs of the county, to be 
made as their own judgment and convenience may dictate. 

3rd. As to your proposed stipulation that all the candidates 
shall remain in their own counties, and restrain their friends in 
the same — it seems to me that on reflection you will see, the fact 
of your having been in Congress has, in various ways, so spread 
your name in the District, as to give you a decided advantage in 
such a stipulation. I appreciate your desire to keep down ex- 
citement ; and I promise you * keep cool ' under all circumstances. 

4th. I have already said I am satisfied with the old system under 
which such good men have triumphed, and that I desire no de- 
parture from its principles. But if there must be a departure 
from it, I shall insist upon a more accurate and just apportionment 
of delegates, or representative votes, to the constituent body, than 
exists by the old; and which you propose to retain in your new 
plan. If we take the entire population of the Counties as shown 
by the late census, we shall see by the old plan, and by your pro- 
posed new plan, — 

Morgan county, with a population of 16541, has but 8 votes 

While Sangamon with 18697 — 2156 greater, has but 8 votes 

So Scott with 6553 has 4 votes 

While Tazewell with 7615 has 1062 greater, has but 4 votes 

So Mason with 3135 has 1 vote 

While Logan with 3907, 772 greater, has but 1 vote 



292 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

And so on in a less degree the matter runs through all the coun- 
ties, being not only wrong in j^rinciple, but the advantage of it 
being all manifestly in your favor with one slight exception, in 
the comparison of two countiei not here mentioned. 

Again, if wc take the whig votes of the counties as shown by 
the late Presidential election as a basis, the thing is still worse. 
Take a comparison of the same six counties — 

Morgan with her 1443 whig votes has 8 votes 

Sangamon with her 1837, 394 greater, only has 8 votes 

Mason with her 255 has 1 vote 

Logan with her 310, 55 greater, has only 1 vote 

Scott with her 670 has 4 votes 

Tazewell with her 1011, 341 greater, has only 4 votes 

It seems to me most obvious that the old system needs adjust- 
ment in nothing so much as in this : and still, by your proposal, no 
notice is taken of it. I have always been in the habit of acceding 
to almost any proposal that a friend would make and I am truly 
sorry that I cannot in this. I perhaps ought to mention that 
some friends at different places are endeavoring to secure the 
honor of the sitting of the convention at their towns respectively, 
and I fear that they would not feel much complimented if we shall 
make a bargain that it should sit no where. 

Yours as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Copied from the Sangamo "Journal" for Feb. 26, 1846.) 

Springfield, March 1, 1845. 
Friend Williams: 

The supreme court adjourned this morning for the term. Your 
cases of Reinliardt vs. Schuyler, Bunce vs. Schuyler, Dickhut vs. 
Dunoll, and Sullivan vs. Andrews are contiinK>d. ITiiunan vs. 
Pope I wrote you concerning some time ago. McNutt et al. vs. 
Bean and Thompson is reversed and remanded. 

Fitzpatrick vs. Brady et al. is reversed and remanded with 
leave to complainant to amend his bill so as to show the real 
consideration given for the land. 

Bunce against Graves, the court confirmed, wherefore, in ac- 
cordance with your directions, I moved to have the case remanded 
to enable you to take a new trial in the court below. The court 
allowed the motion; of which I am glad, and I guess you are. 

This, I believe, is all as to court business. The canal men have 
got their measure through the legislature pretty much or quite 
in the shape they desired. Nothing else now. Yours, as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Mrs. A. J, Morton. Washington, D. C) 



APPENDIX 293 

Williamson Durley. 

Springfield, uctober 3, 1845. 

When I saw you at home, it was agreed that I should write to 
you and your brother Madison. Until I then saw you I was not 
aware of your being what is generally called an Abolitionist, or, aa 
you call yourself, a Liberty man, though I well knew there were 
many such in your country. 

I was glad to hear that you intended to attempt to bring about, 
at the next election in Putnam, a union of the Whigs proper and 
such of the Liberty men as are Whigs in principle on all ques- 
tions save only that of slavery. So far as I can perceive, by such 
union neither party need yield anything on the point in difference 
between them. If the Whig abolitionists of New York had voted 
with us last fall, Mr. Clay would now be President, Whig princi- 
ples in the ascendant, and Texas not annexed ; whereas, by the di- 
vision, ail that either had at stake in the contest was lost. And, 
indeed, it was extremely probable, beforehand, that such would 
be the result. As I always understood, the Liberty men depre- 
cated the annexation of Texas extremely; and this being so, why 
they should refuse to cast their votes (so) as to prevent it, even 
to me seemed wonderful. What was their process of reasoning, 
I can only judge from what a single one of them told me. It was 
this : ' We are not to do evil that good may come.' This gen- 
eral proposition is doubtless correct; but did it apply? If by 
your votes you could have prevented the extension, etc., of slav- 
ery would it not have been good, and not evil, so to have used 
your votes, even though it involved the casting of them for a 
slave-holder. By the fruit the tree is to be known. An evil tree 
cannot bring forth good fruit. If the fruit of electing Mr. Clay 
would have been to prevent the extension of slavery, could the act 
of electing have been evil ? 

But I will not argue further. I perhaps ought to say that 
individually I never was much interested in the Texas question. 
I never could see much good to come of annexation, inasmuch as 
they were already a free republican people on our own model. On 
the other hand. I never could very clearly see how the annexa- 
tion would augment the evil of slavc7-y. It always seemed to me 
that slaves would be taken there in about equal numbers, with or 
without annexation. And if more were taken because of an- 
nexation, still there would be just so many the fewer left where 
they were taken from. It is possibly true, to some extent, that, 
with annexation, some slaves may be sent to Texas and continued 
in slavery that otherwise might have been liberated. To whatever 
extent this may be true, I think annexation an evil. I hold it to 
be a paramoimt duty of us in the free States, due to the Union of 
the States, and perhaps to liberty itself (paradox though it may 
seem), to let the slavery of the other States alone; while, on 
the other hand, I hold it to be equally clear tliat we should never 
knowingly lend ourselves, directly or indirectly, to i^revent that 



294 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

slavery from dying a natural death — to find new places for it to 
live in, when it can no longer exist in the old. Of course 1 am 
not now considering' what would be our duty in cases of insur- 
rection among the slaves. To recur to the Texas question, 1 un- 
derstand the Liberty men to have viewed annexation as a much 
greater evil than ever I did; and I would like to convince you, 
if I could, that they could have prevented it, if they had chosen. 

I intend this letter for you and Madison together; and if you 
and he or either shall think fit to drop me a line, I shall be pleased. 

Yours with respect, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by C. W. Durley, Princeton, Illinois.) 



Dr. Robert Boal, Lacon, 111. 

Springfield, Jany. 7, 1846. 
Dear Doctor: 

Since I saw you last fall, I have often thought of writing you, 
as it was then umierbtood I would, but, on refiection, I have al- 
ways found that I had nothing new to tell you. All has hap- 
pv?ned as I then told you I expected it would — Baker's declining, 
Hardin's taking the track, and so on. 

If Hardin and I stood precisely equal, if neither of us had been 
to Congress, or. if we hoth had — it would not only accord with 
what I have always done, for the sake of peace, to give way to 
him; and I expect I should do it. That I can voluntarily postpone 
my pretentions, when they are no more than equal to those to 
which they are postponed, you have yourself seen. But to yield 
to Hardin under present circumstances, seems to me as nothing- 
else than yielding to one who would gladly sacrifice me altogether. 
This, I would rather not submit to. That Hardin is talented, 
energetic, usually generous and magnanimous, I have, before 
this, affirmed to you, and do not now deny. You know that my 
only argument is that "turn about is fair play." This he prac- 
tically at least, denies. 

If it would not be taxing you too much, I wish you would write 
me, telling the aspect of things in your country, or rather your 
district; and also, send the names of some of your Whig neigh- 
bours, to whom I might, with projjriety, write. Unless I can get 
some one to do this, Hardin, with his old franking list, will have 
the advantage of me. My reliarico for a fair shake (and I want 
nothing more) in your coxmty is chiefly on you, because of your 
position and standing, arK"". because I am acquainted with so few 
others. Let me hear from you soon. 

Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 
(Original owned by Dr. Robert Boal, Lacon, Illinois.) 



APPENDIA 295 

John Bennett. 

Springfield, Jany 15, 1846. 
Friend John: 

Nathan Dresser is here, and speaks as though the contest be- 
tween Hardin and me is to be doubtful in JMenard Coiniry — I 
know he is candid and this aUvnns nie some — I asked liini to 
tell me the names of the men that were going strong for Hardin; 
he said Morris was about as strong as any — Now tell me, is Morrif 
going it openlj^? You remember you wrote me, that he would hr 
neutral. Nathan also said that some man who he could not re 
member had said lately that Menard County was going to de- 
cide the contest and tliat that made the contest very doubtful. 
Do you know wdio that was ^ Don't fail to write me instantly on 
receiving telling me all — partici;larly the names of those who are 
going strong against me. Yuurs as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by E. E. Oeltjen, Petersburg, 111.) 

Springfield, January 21, 1846. 
N. J. Kockwell: 

Dear Sir: You perhaps know that General Hardin and I have 
a contest for the Whig nomination for Congress for this district 
He has had a turn and my argument is " Turn about is fair play. 
i shall be pleased if this strikes you as a sutficicnt argument. 

Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 



Jas. Berdan, 

Jacksonville, 111. 

Springfield, April 26, 1S46. 
Jas. Berdan, Esqr. : 

Dear Sir: 1 thank you for the promptness with which you 
answered my letter from Eloomington. I also thank you for the 
frankness with which you connnent upon a certain part of my 
letter; because that comment affords me an opportunity of try- 
ing to express myself better than I did before, seeing, as I do, that 
in that part of my letter, you have not understood me as I intended 
to be understood. In speaking of the " dissd/isfaclion " of men who 
yet mean to do no wrong, &c., I m(\'int no sjiecial application 
of what I said to the Whigs of l\Iorgan. or ct Moruan A: Scott. 
I only had in my mind the fact, that i)revious to (Jeneral Hardin's 
withdrawal some of his friends and some of mine had become a 
little warm; and I felt, and meant to say, that for them now to 
meet face to face and converse together was the best way to 
efface any remnant of unpleasant feeling, if any such existed. 
I did not suppose that General Hardin's friends were in any 



296 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

greater need of having their feelings corrected than mine were, 
Since I saw you at J acksonville, 1 have had no more suspicion of 
the Whigs of Morgan than of those of any other part of the Dis- 
trict. I write this only to try to remove any impression that 1 
distrust you and the other Whigs of your country. 

Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Mrs. Mary Berdan Tiffany, Springfield, ill.) 

James Eerdan, Jacksonville, 111. 

Springfield, !May 7th, 1846. 
Jas. Berdan, Esqr. : 

Dear Sir: It is a matter of high moral obligation, if not of 
necessity, for me to attend the Coles and Edwards courts. 1 have 
some cases in both of them, in which the parties have my promise, 
and are depending upon me. The court commences in Coles on 
the second Monday, and in Edgar on the third. Your court in 
Morgan commences on the fourth Monday ; and it is my purpose to 
be with you then, and make a speech. I mention the Coles and 
Edgar courts in order that if I should not reach Jacksonville at 
the time named you may understand the reason why. I do not, 
however, think there is much danger of my being detained; as 
I shall go with a purpose not to be, and consequently shall engage 
in no new cases that might delay me. Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Mrs. Mary Berdan Tiffany, Springfield, 111.) 



REPORT OF SPEECH DELIVEPED AT WORCESTER, 

MASS., O^N SEPT. 3 2, 1818. 

(From the Boston " Advertiser.") 

Mr. Kellogg then introduced to the meeting the lion. Abram 
Lincoln, whig member of Congress from Illinois, a representative 
of free soil. 

Mr. Lincoln has a very tall and thin figure, with an intellectual 
face, showing a searching mind, and a cool jiidgnicnt. He spoke 
in a clear and cool, and very eloquent manner, for an hour and 
a half, carrying the luulience with him in his able arguments and 
brilliant illustrations — only inl(>rrupted by warm and frequent 
api)lause. He began by expressing a real feeling of modesty in 
addressing an audience " this side of the mountains," a part of 
the country where, in the opinion of the i)eople of his section, 
everybody was supposed to be instructed and wise. But he had 
devoted his attention to the question of the coming presidential 



APPENDIX 



29; 



election, and was not unwilling to exchange with all whom he 
might the ideas to which he had arrived. He then began to show 
tlie fallacy of some of the arguments against Gen. Taylor, mak- 
ing his chief theme the fashionable statement of all those who 
oppose him, (" the old Locofocos as well as the new ") that he 
lias iw principles, and that the Whig party have abandoned their 
principles by adopting him as their candidate. He maintained 
that Gen. Taylor occupied a high and unexceptionable Whig 
ground, and took for his first instance and proof of this state- 
ment in the Allison letter — with I'egard to the Bank, Tariff, Rivers 
and Harbors, etc. — that the will of the people should produce its 
own results, without Executive influence. The principle that the 
people should do what — under the constitution — they please, is a 
Whig principle. All that Gen. Taylor is not only to consent, but 
to appeal to the people to judge and act for themselves. And this 
was no new doctrine for Whigs. It was the '' platform " on 
which they had fought all their battles, the resistance of Execu- 
tive influence, and the principle of enabling the people to frame 
the government according to their will. Gen. Taylor consents to 
be the candidate, and to assist the people to do what they think 
to be their duty, and think to be best in their natural affairs, but 
because he don t want to tell what we ought to do. he is accused 
of having no principles. The Whigs here maintained for years 
that neither the influence, the duress, or the prohibition of the 
Executive should control the legitimately expressed will of the 
people; and now that on that very ground. Gen. Taylor says that 
he should use the power given him by the people to do, to the 
best of his judgment, the vill of the people, he is accused of want 
of principle, and of inconsistency in position. 

Mr. Lincoln proceeded to examine the absurdity of an attempt 
to make a platform or creed for a national party, to all parts of 
which all must consent and agree, when it was clearly the in- 
tention and the true philosophy of our government, that in Con- 
gress all opinions and principles should be represented, and that 
when the wisdom of all had been compared and united, the? will 
of the majority should be carried out. On this ground he con- 
ceived (and the audience seemed to go with him) that Gen. 
Taylor held correct, sound republican principles. 

Mr. Lincoln then passed to the subject of slavery in the states, 
saying that the people of Illinois agreed entirely with the peojde 
of Massachusetts on this subject, except perhaps that they did 
not keep so constantly thinking about it. All agreed that slav- 
ery was an evil, but that we were not responsible for it and can- 
not affect it in states of this L^nion where we do not live. But, 
the question of the extension of slavery to new territories of this 
country, is a part of our responsibility and care, and is under 
our control. In opposition to this Mr. L. believed that the self- 
named "Free Soil'' party, was far behind the Whigs. Both 
parties opposed the extension. As he understood it the new party 



29S LIFE OF LINCOLN 

had no principle except this opposition. If their platform held 
aay other, it was in such a general way that it was like the paia' 
of pantaloons the Yankee pedlar offered for sale '' large enough 
for any man, small enough for any boy." They therefore had 
taken a position calculated to break down their single important 
declared object. They were working for the election of either 
Gen. Cass or Gen. Taylor. The speaker then went on to show, 
clearly and eloquently, the danger of extension of slavery, likely 
to result from the election of General Cass. To unite with those 
who annexed the new territory to prevent the extension of slav- 
ery in that territory seemed to him to be in the highest degree 
absurd and ridiculous. Suppose these gentlemen succeed in 
electing ]\Lr. Van Buren, they had no specific means to prevent 
tiie extension of slavery to New Mexico and California, and Gen 
Taylor, he confidently believed, would not encourage it, and would 
not prohibit its restriction. But if Gen. Cass was elected, he 
felt certain that the plans of farther extension of territory would 
be encouraged, and those of the extension of slavery would meet 
no check. The "Free Soil" men in claiming that name indi- 
rectly attempts a deception, by implying that Whigs were nut 
Free Soil men. In declaring that they would " do their duty and 
leave the consequences to God," merely gave an excuse for taking 
a course they were not able to maintain by a fair and full argu- 
ment. To make this declaration did not show what their duty 
was. If it did we should have no use for judgment, we might as 
well be made without intellect, and when divine or human law 
does not clearly point out what is our duty, we have no means of 
finding out what it is by using our most intelligent judgment of 
the consequences. If there were divine law, or human law for 
voting for Martin Van Buren, or if a fair examination of the 
consequences and first reasoning would show that voting for him 
would bring about the ends they pretended to wish — then he 
would give up the argument. But since there was no fixed law on 
the subject, and since the whole probable result of their action 
would be an assistance in electing Gen. Cass, he must say that 
they were behind the Whigs in their advocacy of the freedom 
of the soil. 

Mr. Lincoln proceeded to rally the Buffalo Convention for for- 
bearing to say anything — after all the previous declarations of 
those members who were formerly Whigs — on the subject of the 
!Mexican war, because the Van Burens had been known to have 
supported it. He declared that of all the parties asking the confi- 
dence of the country, this new one had less of principle than any 
other. 

He wondered whether it wns still the opinion of these Free Soil 
gentlemen as declared in the '■ whereas " at Buffalo, that the Whig 
and Demc/cratic parties were both entirely dissolved and absorbed 
into their own body. Had the Vermont election given them any 
light i They had calculated on making as great an impression 
is that State as in any part of the Union, and there their attempts 



APPENDIX 299 

had been •wholly ineffectual. Their failure there was a greater suc- 
cess than tliey would lind m any other part of the Union. 

Mr. Lincohi went on to say that he honestly believed that all 
those who wished to Iceep up the character of the Union ; who did 
not believe in enlarging- our field, but in keeping our fences where 
they are and cultivating our present possessions, making it a 
garden, improving the morals and education of the people; de- 
voting the administrations to this purpose; all real Whigs, friends 
of good honest government ; — the race was ours, lie had oppor- 
timitics of h.earing from almost every part of the Union from 
reliable sources and had not heard of a country in which we had 
not received accessions from other parties. If the true Whigs 
come forward and join these new friends, they need not have a 
doubt. We had a candidate whose personal character and prin- 
ciples he had already described, whom he could not eulogize if he 
would. Gen. Taylor had been constantly, perseveringly, quietly 
standing up, doing his duty, and asking no praise or reward for it. 
Jle was and must be just the ra'in to whom the interests, princi- 
])les and prosperity of the country might be safely intrvistcd. Tic 
had never failed in anything he had undertaken, although many 
of his duties had been considered almost impossible. 

Mr. Lincoln then went into a terse though rapid review of the 
origin of the Mexican war and the connection of the administra- 
tion and General Taylor with it, from which he deduced a strong 
appeal to the Whigs present to do their duty in the support of 
General Taylor, and closed with the warmest aspirations for and 
confidence in a deserved success. 

At the close of this truly masterly and convincing speech, the 
audience gave three enthusiastic cheers for Illinois, and three 
more for the eloquent Whig member from that kStpte. 
J. Gillespie. 

Sprinofikld, III., May 19, 1849. 
Dear Gillespie: 

Butterfield will be Commissioner of the Gen'l Land Office, un- 
less prevented by strong and speedy efforts. Ewing is for him, 
and he is only not appointed yet Ijecause Old Zach. hangs fire. 
I have reliable information of this. Now, if you agree with me 
that his appointment would dissatisfy rather tlian gratify the 
Whigs of this State, that it would slacken their enei-gies in future 
contests, that his appointment in '41 is an old sore witli tliom 
which they will not patiently have reopened, — in a word ^ tiiat 
his appointment now would be a fatal blunder to the administra- 
tion and our political men, here in Illinois, write Mr. Crittenden to 
that effect. He can control the matter. Were you to write Ewing 
I fear the President would never hear of your letter. This may 
be mere suspicion. You miglit directly to Old Zach. You will 
be the best judge of the propriety of that. Not a moment's time 
is to be lost. 



300 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Let this confidential except with Mr. Edwards and a few othera 
whom you know I would trust just as I do you. 

Yours as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Mrs. Josephine G. Prickett, Edwardsville, 
111.) 

Secretary of Interior, Washington, D. C. 

Springfield, III., June 3, 1849. 
Hon. Secretary of Interior, 

Dear Sir: Vandalia, the Receiver's office at which place is the 
subject of the within, is not in my district ; and 1 have been much 
perplexed to express any preference between Dr. Stapp and Mr. 
Remann. If any one man is better qualified for such an office 
than all others, Dr. Stapp is that man ; still, I believe a large 
majority of the Whigs of the District i:)refer Mr. Remann, who 
also is a good man. Perhaps the papers on file will enable you 
to judge better than I can. The writers of the within are good 
men, residing within the Land District. 

Your obt. servant, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by C. F. Gunther, Chicago, 111.) 

J. Gillespie. 

Springfield, July 13, 1849. 
Dear Gillespie: 

Mr. Edwards is unquestionably offended with me in connec- 
tion with the matter of the General Land Office. He wrote a 
letter against me which was filed at the I)ei)artment. 

The better part of one's life consists of his friendships; and, of 
them, mine with Mr. Edwards was one of the most cherished. 
I have not been false to it. At a word I could have had the office 
any time before the Department was committed to J\Ir. Ilutter- 
field, — at least Mr. Ewing and the President say as much. That 
word I forbore to speak, partly for other reasons, but chiefly for 
Mr. Edwards' sake, — losing the office that he might gain it, I 
was always for; but to lose his friendship, by the eft'ort for him, 
would oppress me very much, were T not sustained by the \itmost 
consciousness of rectitude. I lii'st determined to be an applicant, 
unconditionally, on the 2nd of June; and I did so then upon 
being informed by a Telegraphic despatch that the question was 
narrowed down to ^Ir. H — and myself, and tiiat the Cabinet had 
postponed the appointnunit, three weeks, for my benefit. Not 
doubting that l^fr. Edwards was wholly out of the question T, 
nevertheless, would not then have become an applicant had I 
supposed he would thereby be brought to suspect me of treachery 



APPENDIX 301 

to him. Two or three days afterwards a conversation with Levi 
Davis convinced me Mr. Edwards was dissatisfied; but 1 was 
then too far in to get out. His own letter, written on tiie 25tli 
of April, after I had fvdly informed him of all that had passed, 
up to within a few days of that time, gave assurance 1 had that 
entire confidence from him, which I felt my uniform and strong 
friendship for him entitled me to. Among other things it says 
" whatever course your judgment may dictate as proper to be 
pursued, shall never be excepted to by me." I also had had a 
letter from Washington, saying Chambers, of the Republic, had 
brought a rumor then, that Mr. E — had declined in my favor, 
which rumor I judged came from Mr. E — himself, as I had not 
then breathed of his letter to any living creature. In saying I 
had never, before the 22nd of June, determined to be an appli- 
cant, unconditionally, I mean to admit that, before then, I had 
said substantially I would take the ofKce rather than it should 
be lost to the State, or given to one in the State whom the Whigs 
did not want; but I aver that in every instance in which I spoke of 
myself, I intended to keep, and now believe I did keep, Mr. E — 
above myself. Mr. Edwards' first suspicion was that I had allowed 
Baker to overreach me, as his friend, in behalf of Don Morrison. 
I knew this was a mistake; and the result has proved it. I un- 
derstand his view now is, that if I had gone to open war with 
Baker I could have ridden him down, and had the thing all my 
own way. I believe no such thing. With Baker and some strong 
man from the Military tract, & elsewhere for Morrison; and wq 
and some strong man from the Wabash & elsewhere for Mr. E— , 
it was not possible for either to succeed. I helieved this in iMarch. 
and I Imow it now. The only thing which gave either any chance 
was the very thing Baker & I proposed, — an adjustment with them- 
selves. 

You may wish to know how Bvitterfield finally beat me. T can 
not tell you particulars, now, but will, when 1 see you. In the 
meantime let it be understood I am not greatly dissatisfied. — I 
wish the offer had been so bestowed as to encourage our friends 
in future contests, and I regret exceedingly Mr. Edwards' feel- 
ings towards me. These two things away, I should have no i-e- 
grets, — at least I think I would not. 

Write me soon. 

Your friend, as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Mrs. Josephine G. Prickett, Edwardsville, 
111.) 

Springfield, Sept. 14, 1849. 

Dr. WiLLiAj^r EiTHiAN. Danville, 111. 

Dear Doctor: Your letter of the 9th was received a day or 
two ago. The notes, and mortgages you encloscMl mr were dulj 



302 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

received. 1 also got the original Blancliard mortgage Irom An- 
trim Camiibell, with whom Blanchard had left it for you. I got 
a decree of foreclosure on the whole; but owing to there being no 
redemption on the sale to be under the Blanchard mortgage, the 
court allowed ]\Ioble.v till the first of March to pay the money, 
before advertising for sale. Stuart was empowered by Mobley 
to appear for him, and I had to take such decree as he would con- 
sent to, or none at all. I cast the matter about in my mind and 
concluded that as I could not get a decree now would put the 
accrued interest at interest, and thereby more than match the 
fact of throwing the Blanchard debt back from 12 to 6 per cent., it 
was better to do it. This is the present state of the case. 

I can well enough understand and appreciate your suggestions 
about the Land Office at Danville; but in my present condition, 
I can do nothing. 

Yours, as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Dr. P. II. Fithian, Springfield, 111.) 

Springfield, Jan. 11, 1851. 
C. HoYT, Esq. 

My Dear Sir : Our case is decided against us. The decision was 
announced this morning. Very sorry, but there is no help. The 
history of the case since it came here is this — On Friday morn- 
ing last, Mr. Joy filed his papers, and entered his motion for a 
mandamus, and urged me to take up the motion as soon as pos- 
sible. I already had the points, and a\ithorities sent me, by you 
and by Mr. Goodrich but had not studied them — I began prepar- 
ing as fast as possible. 

Tlie evening of tlie same day T was again urged to take up the 
case. I refused on the ground that I was not ready, and on v/hich 
plea T also got off over Saturday. But on I^fonday (the 14th) T had 
to go into it. We occupied the whole day, I using the large part. I 
made every point and used every authority sent me by yourself 
and by Mr. Goodricli; and in addition all the points I could tliiuk 
of and all the authorities T could find myself. WIkmi I clos(>d the 
argument on my part, a large package was handed me, which 
proved to be the Plat you sent me. Tlie court received it of me, 
but it was not differ(>nt from the Plat already on tlie record. I 
do not think I could ever have argued the case better than T did. 
T did nothing elso, but prepare io argue and argue this case, from 
Friday morning till ]\ronday evening. Very sorry for the result; 
but T do not think it could have been prevented. 

Your friend as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by family of Mr. Ned Ames Higgins, Wash- 
ington, D. C.) 



APPENDIX 303 

Nov. 4, 1851. 
Dear Mo'idER: 

Chapman tells me he wants you to go and live with him. If I 
were you I would try it awhile. If you get tired of it (as I tliiuk 
you will not) you can return to your own home. Chapman feels 
very kindly to you; and I have no doubt he will make your situa- 
tion very pleasant. tSincerely your son, 

A. Lincoln. 

(From Herndon's " Life of Lincoln.") 

Addressed John D. Johnston, Charleston, Coles County, Illinois. 

Springfield, November 25, 1851. 
John D. Johnston : 

Dear Brother: Your letter of the 22d is just received — Your 
proposal about selling the East forty acres of land is all that I want 
or could claim for myself; but I am not satisfied with it on 
Mother's account- — I want her to have her living, and I feel that 
it is my duty, to some extent, to see that she is not wronged — She 
had a right of Dower (that is, the use of one-third for life) in 
the other two forties; but, it seems, she has already let you take 
that, hook and line — She now has the use of the whole of the East 
forty, as long as she lives ; and if it be sold, of course she Is entitled 
to the interest on all the money it brings, as long as she lives; but 
you propose to sell it for three hundred dollars, take one hundred 
away with you, and leave her two hundred at 8 per cent, making 
her the enormous sum of IG dollars a year — Now, if you are 
satisfied with treating her in that way, I am not — It is true, 
that you are to have that forty for two hundred dollars, at Mother's 
death; but you are not to have it before. I am confident that 
land can be made to produce for Mother at least $30 a year, and I 
can not, to oblige any living person, consent that she shall be i)Ut 
on an allowance of sixteen dollars a year — 

Yours, etc., 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Mr. William H. Lambert, Philadelphia, Pa.) 

The superscription of the letter is as here printed — but the cap- 
tion omits the town and state. 

Pekin, May 12, 1853. 
Mr. Joshua E. Stanford: 

Sir: — I hope the subject-matter of this letter will ap])ear a suffi- 
cient apology to you for the liberty I, a total stranger, take in 
addressing you. The persons here holding two lots under a con- 
veyance mad© by you, as the attorney of Daniel M. P>ai]y, now 
nearly twenty-two years ago, are in great danger of losing the lots, 
and very much, perhaps all, is to depend on the testimony you give 



304 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

as to whether you did or did not account to Baily for the jiroceeda 
received by you on this sale of the lots. I, therefore, as one of the 
counsel, beg of you to fully refresh your recollection by any means 
in your power before the time you may be called on to testify. If 
persons should come about you, and show a disposition to pump 
you on the subject, it may be no more than prudent to remember 
that it may be possible they design to misrepresent you and em- 
barrass the real testimony you may ultimately give. It may be six 
months or a year before you are called on to testify. 

Respectfully, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Homer Stanford, of Alton, 111.) 



(Confidential.) 

Springfield, Sept. 7, 1854. 
Hon. J. M. Palmer: 

De.\r Sir: You know how anxious I am that this Nebraska 
measure shall be rebuked and condemned everywhere — Of course 
I hope something from your position; yet I do not expect you to 
do any thing which may be wrong in your own judgment; nor 
would I have you do anything personally injurious to yourself — ■ 
You are, and always have been, honestly, and siiicrreJi/, a demo- 
crat; and I know how painful it must be to an honest sincere 
man, to be urged by his party to the support of a measure, which 
in his conscience he believes to be wrong — You have had a se- 
vere struggle witli yoiirself, and you have deterniino(l nnf to swal- 
low the vronr/— Is it not just to yourself that you should, in a 
few public speeches, state your rensons, and thus justify yourself? 
I wish yon would: and yet I say " (k)n't do it, if you tliink it will 
injure you " — You may have given your word to vote for JMajoi- 
Harris; and if so, of course you will stick to it — But allow me 
to suggest tliat you sliould avoid sjjoaking of this; i'or it i)r(i]iiibly 
would induce some of your friends, in like manner, to cast their 
votes — You understand — And now let me beg your pardon 
for obtruding this letter upon you, to whom I have ever been 
opposed in politics — Had your party omitted to make Nebraska 
d test of party fidelity; you probably would have been the Demo- 
cratic candidate for congress in the district — You deserved it, 
and I believe it would have been given you — In that case I 
should have been quite happy that Nebraska was to be rebuked 
at all events — I still should have voted for the whig candidate; 
but I should have made no speeches, written no letters; and you 
would have been elected by at least a thousand majority — 

Yours truly, 

\. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Mr. William H. Lambert. Philadelphia, Pa.) 



APPENDIX 305 

Cli2s-ton, De Witt Co., Nov. 10, 1854. 
Mr. Charles Hoyt. 

Dear Sir: You used to express a good deal of partiality for 
me, and if you are stjll so, now is the time. tSome friends here 
are really for me, for the U. S. Senate, and 1 should be very 
grateful if you could make a mark for me among your members. 
Please write me at all events giving me the names post-otiices, 
and " political position " of members round about you. Direct to 
Springfield. 

Let this be confidential. Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Mrs. C. L. Hoyt of Aurora, 111.) 

(Copy) 

Springfield, Dee. 1, 1854. 
J. Gillespie, Esq.: 

My Dear Sir: I have reaiiy got it into my hc-ad to try to be 
United States Senator, and, if 1 could have your support, my 
chances would be reasonably good. But I know, and acknowledge, 
that you have as just claims to the place as I have; and therefore 
I cannot ask you to yield to me, if you are thinking of becoming a 
candidate, yourself. If, however, you are not, then I should like 
to be remembered ali'ectionately by you; and also to have you 
make a mark for me with the Anti-Nebraska members, down your 
way. 

If you know, and have no objection to tell, let me know whether 
Trumbull intends to make a push. If he does, I suppose the two 
men in St. Clair, and one, or both, in Madison, will be for him. 
We have the legislatiu-e, clearly enough, on joint ballot, but the 
Senate is very close, and CuUom told me to-day that the Nebraska 
men will stave off the election, if they can. Even if we get into 
joint vote, we shall have difficvdty to unite our forces. Please write 
me, and let this be confidential. Your friend, as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Mrs. Josephine Gillespie Prickett of Ed- 
wardsville. 111.) 

Sanford, Porter & Striker, New York City. 

Springfield, March 10th, 1855. 

Messrs. Sanford, Porter and Striker, New York. 

Gentlemen : Yoiirs of the 5th is received, as also was that of 
15th Dec. last, inclosing bond of Clift to Pray. When I received 

(20) 



-o6 i^IFE OF "LINCOLN 

*'ia bond 1 was dabbling in polities, and of course neglecting busi* 
uess. Having since been beaten out I have gone to work again. 

As I do not practice in Kushvilie I today open a correspondence 
Willi ]Ienry E. Diunnier, Esq. of Beardstown, Ills., with the view 
c'f getting the job into his hands. lie is a good man if he will uii- 
dertaivc it. Write me whether I shall do this or return the bond 
to you. 

Very respectfully, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by the Skaneateles Library, Skaneateles, N. Y.) 

Dec. 13, 1855. 

Dear Sih: You will confer a favor on nie, if you will send me 
the Congressional "(llobe" during the present session. Please 
have it directed to me. 

I will ]iay for the same when you visit your family. 

Yours respectfully, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original formerly owned by Col. Thomas Douuldson. Loaned 
by Stan. V. Henkels of Fhilade'^jhia, i*a.) 

REPORT ^lADE BY WILLIAM C. WHITNEY OF THE 
SPEECH DELIVERED BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN BE- 
FORE THE FIRST REPITBLICAN STATE CONVEN- 
TION OF ILLINOIS HELD AT BLOOMINGTON ON 
MAY 29, 1856. 

(Mr. Whitney's notes were made at the time but not written out 
until 189G. He does not claim that the speech, as here reported, is 
literally correct — only that he has followed the argument, and that 
in many cases the sentences are as Mr. Lincoln spoke them.)* 

Mr. Chairman and Genilemen: I was over at [cries of "Plat- 
form! " "Take the platform! "] — I say, that while I was at Dan- 
ville Court, some of our friends of anti-Nebraska got together in 
Springfield and elected me as one delegate to represent old Sanga- 
mon with them in this convention, and I am here certainly as a 
symi)atbizer in this movement and by virtue of that meeting and 
selection. But we can hiirdly be called delegates strictly, inas- 
much as, properly speaking, we represent nobody but ourselves. I 
think it altogether fair to say that we have no anti-Nebraska party 
in Sangamon, although there is a good deal of anti-Nebraska 
feeling there: but I say for myself, and I think I may speak also for 
my colleagues, that we who are here fully approve of the platform 
and of all ihnt has been done [a voice; "Yes!"]; and even if 
we are not regularly delegates, it will be right for me to answer 
your call to speak. I suppose we truly stand for the public senti 

*Copyri<jlif. ^mj. by Sarah A. VV luuici-. 



APPENDIX 307 

ruent of Sangamon on the great question of the repeal, althougli 
we do not yet represent many numbers who have taken a distinct 
position on the question. 

We are in a trying time — it ranges above mere party — and this 
movement to call a halt and turn our steps backward needs all 
the help and good counsels it can get; for unless popular opinion 
makes itself very strongly felt, and a change is made in our pres- 
ent course, hlood will Aoiu on account of Nebraska, and brother's 
hand will he raised against brother! [The last sentence was ut- 
tered in such an earnest, impressive, if not, indeed, tragic, man- 
ner, as to make a cold chill creep over me. Others gave a similar 
experience.] 

I have listened with great interest to the earnest appeal made 
to Illinois men by the gentleman from Lawrence [James S. Emery] 
who has just addressed us so eloquently and forcibly. I was deeply 
moved by his statement of the wrongs done to free-State men out 
there. I think it just to say that all true men Nortli should sym- 
pathize with them, and ought to be willing to do any possible and 
needful thing to right their wrongs. But we must not promise 
what we ought not, lest we be called on to perform what we can- 
not; we must be calm and moderate, and consider the whole diffi- 
culty, and determine what is possible and just. We must not be 
led by excitement and passion to do that which our sober judgments 
would not approve in our cooler moments. We have higher aims; 
we will have more serious business than to dally with temporary 
measures. 

We are here to stand firmly for a principle — to stand firmly for 
a right. We know that great political and moral wrongs are done, 
and outrages connnitted, and we denounce those wrongs and out- 
rages, although we cannot, at present, do much more. But we 
desire to reach out beyond tbose personal outrages and establish 
a rule that will apply to all, and so prevent any future outrages. 

We have seen to-day that every shade of poyndar opinion is 
represented here, with Freedom or ratber Free-Hnil as tlie basis. 
We have come together as in some sort representatives of popular 
opinion against the extension of slaveiy into territory now free 
in fact as well as by law, and the pledged word of tlie statesmen 
of the nation who are now no more. We come — we are here as- 
sembled together — to protest as well as we can against a great 
wrong, and to take measures, as well as we now can, to make that 
wrong right; to place the nation, as far as it may 1)0 jiossible now, 
as it was before the repeal of (he Missouri Compromise; and the 
plain way to do this is tf) restore the Compromise, and to demand 
and determine that Kansas shall be free! | Immense applause.'] 
While we affirm, and reaffirm, if necessary, our devotion to the 
principles of the Declaration of Independence, let our practical 
work here be limited to tlie above. We know tliat there is not a 
perfect agreement of sentimr-nt bore .m tlie public questions which 
might be rightfidly considovod in this convention, and that the 



3oS 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



indignation which \vc all must feel cannot be helped; out all of 
us must give up something for the good of the cause. There is 
one desire which is uppermost in the mind, one wish conunon to 
us all — to which no dissent will be made; and I counsel you ear- 
nestly to bury all resentment, to sink all personal feeling, make all 
things work to a common purpose in which we are united and 
agreed about, and which all present will agree is absolutely neces- 
sary — which must be done by any rightful mode if there be such: 
Slavery must he kept out of Kansas! [Applause.] The test — 
the pinch — is right there. If we lose Kansas to freedom, an ex- 
ample will be set which will prove fatal to freedom in the end. 
We, therefore, in the language of the Bible, must " lay the axe to 
the root of the tree." Temporizing will not do longer; now is the 
time for decision — for firm, jjersistent, resolute action. [Ap- 
plause.] 

The Nebraska bill, or rather Nebraska law, is not one of whole- 
some legislation, but was and is an act of legislative usurpation, 
whose result, if not indeed intention, is to make slavery national; 
and unless headed oft" in some eft'ective way, we are in a fair way to 
see this land of boasted freedom converted into a land of slavery 
in fact. [Sensation.] Just open your two eyes, and see if this be 
not so. I need do no more than state, to command universal ap- 
proval, that almost the entire North, as well as a large following 
in the border States, is radically opposed to the planting of slav- 
ery in free territory. Probably in a popular vote throughout the 
nation nine-tenths of the voters in the free States, and at least 
one-half in the border States, if they could express their senti- 
ments freely, would vote NO on such an issue; and it is safe to say 
that two-thirds of the votes of the entire nation would be opposed 
to it. And yet, in spite of this overbalancing of sentiment in this 
free country, we are in a fair way to soe Kansas present itself for 
admission as a slave State. Indeed, it is a felony, by the local 
law of Kansas, to deny that slavery exists there even now. By 
every principle of law, a negro in Kansas is free; yet the bogus 
legislature makes it an infamous crime to tell him that he is free! * 

The party lash and the fear of ridicule will overawe justice and 
liberty; for it is a singular fact, but none the less a fact, and well 
known by the most common experience, that men will do things 
under the terror of the party lash that they would not on any ac- 
count or for any consideration do otherwise; while men who will 
march up to the mouth of a load(Hl cannon without shrinking, 
will run from the terrible name of " Abolitionist," even when pro- 



* Statutes of Kansas, 18:"), Chaptor 151. Seo. 13. If any freo v'erson, by speaking 
or by writing, assert or maintain tliat persons have not the right to hold slaves in 
this Territory, or shall infrodufe into (his Territory, print, publish, write, circu- 
late . . . any nook, paper, maKazine, panii)hlet, or eireular eontaining any de- 
Tiial of tlie right of persons to hold slaves in this Territory, sucii person shall be 
deemed guilty of felaiui, and punished by imprisonment at hard labor for a term of. 
not less than two years. 

See. 13. No person who is oonseientiously opposed to holding slaves, or who does 
not admit the right to hold slaves in this Territory, shall sit as a juror ^-.u the trial 
of any prosecution for any violation of any Sections of this A^* 



APPENDIX 30c, 

nounced by a worthless creature whom, they, with pom] reason, 
despise. For instance — to press this point a little — Jud^c Doiif^las 
introduced his anti-Nebraska bill in January; and we had an extra 
session of our legislature in the succeeding February, in whicli were 
seventy-five Democrats; and at a party caucus, fully attended, 
there were just three votes out of the whole seventy-live, for the 
measure. But in a few days orders came on from Wasliington, 
commanding them to approve the measure; the party lash was 
applied, and it was brought up again in caucus, and passed by a 
large majority. The masses were against it, but party necessity 
carried it; and it was passed through the lower house of Congress 
against the will of the people, for the same reason. Here is where 
the greatest danger lies — that, while we profess to be a government 
of law and reason, law will give way to violence on demand of this 
awful and crushing power. Like the great Juggernaut — T think 
that is the name — the great idol, it crushes everything that comes 
in its way, and makes a — or as I read once, in a blackletter law 
book, " a slave is a hmnan being who is legally not a person but a 
thing." And if the safeguards to liberty are broken down, as is 
now attempted, when they have made thiligs of all the free negroes, 
how long, think you, before they will begin to make things of poor 
white men? [Applause.] Be not deceived. Revolutions do not go 
backward. The founder of the Democratic party declared that 
all men were created equal. His successor in the leadership has 
written the word " white " before men, making it read " all white 
men are created equal." Pray, will or may not the Know-nothings, 
if they should get in power, add the word " protestant," making 
it read " all protestant white men '"? 

Meanwhile the hapless negro is the fruitful subject of reprisals 
in other quarters. John Pettit, whom Tom Benton paid his re- 
spects to, you will recollect, calls the immortal Declaration " a 
self-evident lie; " while at the birthplace of freedom — in the shadow 
of Bunker Hill and of the " cradle of liberty," at the home of the 
Adamses and Warren and Otis — Choate, from our side of the 
house, dares to fritter away the birthday promise of liberty by pro- 
claiming the Declaration to be " a string of glittering generali- 
ties;" and the Southern Whigs, working hand in hand with pro- 
slavery Democrats, are making Choate's theories practical. 
Thomas Jefferson, a slaveholder, mindful of the moral element in 
slavery, solemnly declared that he "trembled for his country 
when he remembered that God is just; " while Judge Douglas, with 
an insignificant wave of the hand, " don't care whether slavery is 
voted up or voted down." Now. if slavery is right, or even nega- 
tive, he has a right to treat it in this trifling manner. But if it 
is a moral and political wrong, as all Christendom considers it 
to be. how can lie answer to God for this attempt to spread and 
fortify it? [Applause.] 

But no man, and Judge Douglas no more than any other, can 
maintain a negative, or merely neutral, position on this question; 



3IC 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



and, accordingly, he avows that the Union was made hy white 
men and for white men and their descendants. As matter of fact, 
tlie first branch of the proposition is historically true; the gov- 
ernment v.'as made by white men, and they were and are the su- 
perior race. This I admit. But the corner-stone of the govern- 
ment, so to speak, was the declaration that " all men are created 
equal," and all entitled to " life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap- 
piness." [Applause.] 

And not only so, but the framers of the Constitution were par- 
ticular to keep out of that instrument the word " slave," the 
reason being that slavery would ultimately come to an end, and 
they did not wish to have any reminder that in this free country 
human beings were ever prostituted to slavery. [Applause.] Nor 
is it any argument that we are superior and the negro inferior — 
that he has but one talent while we have ten. Let the negro pos- 
sess the little he has in independence; if he has but one talent, 
he should be permitted to keep the little he has. [Applause.] 
But slavery will endure no test of reason or logic; and yet its ad- 
vocates, like Douglas, use a sort of bastard logic, or noisy assxmip- 
tion, it might better be termed, like the above, in order to prepare 
the mind for the gradual, but none the less certain, encroachments 
of the Moloch of slavery upon the fair domain of freedom. But 
how^ever much you may argue upon it, or smother it in soft phrase, 
slavery can only be maintained by force — by violence. The repeal 
of the Missouri Compromise was by violence. It was a violation 
of both law and the sacred obligations of honor, to overthrow and 
trample underfoot a solemn compromise, obtained by the fearful 
loss to freedom of one of the fairest of our Western domains. 
Congress violated the will and confidence of its constituents in 
voting for the bill; and while public sentiment, as shown by the 
elections of 1854, demanded the restoration of this compromise. 
Congress violated its trust by refusing, simply because it had the 
force of numbers to hold on to it. And murderous violence is 
being used now, in order to force slavery on to Kansas; for it 
cannot be done in any other way. [Sensation.] 

The necessary result was to establish tlie rule of violence — force, 
instead of the rule of law and reason; to perpetuate and spread 
slavery, and, in time, to make it general. We see it at both ends of 
the line. In Washington on the very spot where the outrage was 
started, the fearless Sumner is beaten to insensibility, and is now 
slowly dying; while senators who claim to be gentlemen and Chris- 
tians stood by, countenancing the act, and even api)lauding it 
afterward in their places in the Senate. Even Douglas, our man, 
saw it all and was within helping distance, yet let the murderous 
blows fall unopposed. Then, at the other end of the line, at the 
very time Sumner was being murdered, Lawrence was being de- 
stroyed for the crime of Freedom. It was the most prominent 
stronghold of liberty in Kansns. and must give way to the all- 
dominating power of slavery. Only two days ago. Judge Trum- 



APPENDIX 



3H 



bull found it necessary to' proiDose a bill in the Senate to prevent 
a general civil war and to restore peace in Kansas. 

We live in the midst of alarms; anxiety beclouds the future; we 
expect some new disaster with each newspaper we read. Are we 
in a healthful political state ^ Are not the tendencies plain '; Do 
not the signs of the times point plainly the way in which we arc 
going? [Sensation.] 

In the early days of the Constitution slavery was recognized, 
by South and North alike, as an evil, and the division of senti- 
ment about it was not controlled by geographical lines or consid- 
erations of climate, but by moral and philanthropic views. Peti- 
tions for the abolition of slavery were presented to the very first 
Congress by Virginia and Massachusetts alike. To sliow the har- 
mony which prevailed, 1 will state that a fugitive slave law was 
passed in 1793, with no dissenting voice in the Senate, and but 
seven dissenting votes in the House. It was, however, a wise law, 
moderate, and, under the Constitution, a just one. Twenty-five 
years later, a more stringent law was proposed and defeated; and 
thirty-five years after that, the present law, drafted by Mason 
of Virginia, was passed by Northern votes. I am not, just now, 
complaining of this law, but I am trying to show how the current 
sets; for the proposed law of 1817 was far less ofi:"ensive than the 
present one. In 1774 the Continental Congress pledged itself, 
without a dissenting vote, to wholly discontinue the slave trade, 
and to neither purchase nor import any slave; and less than three 
months before the passage of the Declaration of Independence, 
the same Congress which adopted that declaration unanimously 
resolved " that no slave he imported into any of the thirteen 
United Colonies." [Great applause.] 

On the second day of July, 1776, the draft of a Declaration of 
Independence was reported to Congress by the committee, and 
in it the slave trade was characterized as " an execrable commerce," 
as " a piratical warfare," as the " opprobrium of infidel powers," 
and as " a cruel war against human nature." [Applause.] All 
agreed on this except Soiath Carolina and Georgia, and in order to 
preserve harmony, and from the necessity of the case, these ex- 
pressions were omitted. Indeed, abolition societies existed as far 
south as Virginia; and it is a well-known fact that Washington, 
Jeft'erson, Madison, Lee, Henry, Mason, and Pendleton were quali- 
fied abolitionists, and much more radical on that subject than we 
of the Whig and Democratic parties claim to be to-day. On 
March 1, 1784, Virginia ceded to the confederation all its lands 
lying northwest of the Ohio Eiver. Jefferson, Chase of Mary- 
land, and Howell of Rhode Island, as a committee on that and 
territory thereafter to he ceded, reported that no slavery sliould 
exist after the year 1800. Had this report been adopted, not only 
the Northwest, but Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Missis- 
sippi also would have been free; but it recjuired the assent of 
nine States to ratify it. North Carolina was divided, and thus 



312 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

its vote was lost; and Delaware, Georgia, and New Jersey refused 
to vote. In point of fact, as it was, it was assented to by six 
States. Three years later, on a square vote to exclude 
slavery from the Northwest, only one vote, and that from 
New York, was against it. And yet, thirty-seven years 
later, five thousand citizens of Illinois out of a voting mass of less 
than twelve thousand, deliberately, after a long and heated con- 
test, voted to introduce slavery in Illinois; and, to-day, a large 
party in the free State of Illinois are willing to vote to fasten the 
shackles of slavery on the fair domain of Kansas, notwithstanding 
it received the dowry of freedom long before its birth as a political 
community. I repeat, therefore, the question: Is it not plain in 
what direction we are tending? [Sensation.] In the colonial 
time. Mason, Pendleton, and Jefferson were as hostile to slavery 
in Virginia as Otis, Ames, and the Adamses were in Massachusetts; 
and Virginia made as earnest an etiort to get rid of it as old Massa- 
chusetts did. But ciicmiistauces were against them and they failed; 
but not that the good will of its leading men was lacking. Yet within 
less than fifty years Virginia changed its tune, and made negro- 
breeding for the cotton and sugar States one of its leading indus- 
tries. [Laughter and applause.] 

In the Constitutional Convention, George Mason of Virginia 
made a more violent abolition speech than my friends Lovejoy or 
Codding would desire to make here to-day — a speech which could 
not be safely repeated anywhere on Southern soil in this enlight- 
ened year. But while there were some differences of opinion on 
this subject even then, discussion was allowed ; but as you see by 
the Kansas slave code, which, as you know, is the Missouri slave 
code, merely ferried across the river, it is a felony to even express 
an opinion hostile to that foul blot in the land of Washington and 
the Declaration of Independence. [Sensation.] 

In Kentucky — my State — in 1849, on a test vote, the mighty 
influence of Henry Clay and many other good men there could not 
get a symptom of expression in favor of gradual emancipation 
on a plain issue of marching toward the light of civilization with 
Ohio and Illinois; but tlie State of Boone and Hardin and Henry 
Clay, with a nigger under each arm, took the black trail toward 
the deadly swami)s of barbarism. Is there — can there be — any 
doubt about this thing? And is there any doubt that we nmst 
all lay aside our i)rejudices and march, shoulder to shoulder, in 
the great army of Freedom? [Ajtplause.] 

Every Fourth of July o\n- young orators all proclaim this to be 
" the land of the fi'ee and the home of the brave ! " Well, now, 
when you orators get that oif next year, and, may be, this very 
year, how would you like some old grizzled farmer to get up in 
the grove and deny it? [Laughter.] How would you like that? 
But suppose Kansas comes in as a slave State, and all the " border 
ruffians " have barbecues about it, and free-State men come trail- 
ing back to the dishonovad North, like whipped dogs with their 



APPENDIX 313 

tails between their legs, it is — ain't it? — evident that this is no 
more the " land of the free ; " and if we let it go so, we won't dare 
to say "home of the brave" out loud. [Sensation and confusion.] 

Can any man doubt that, even in spite of the people's will, slav- 
ery will triumph through violence, unless that will be made mani- 
fest and enforced'^ Even Governor Reedcr claimed at the outset 
that the contest in Kansas was to be fair, but he got his eyes open 
at last; and I believe that, as a result of this moral and physical 
violence, Kansas will soon apply for admission as a slave State. 
And yet we can't mistake that the people don't want it so, and 
that it is a land which is free both by natural and political law. 
No law, is free law! Such is the understanding of all Christendom. 
In the Somerset case, decided nearly a century ago, the great Lord 
Mansfield held that slavery was of such a nature that it must take 
its rise in positive (as distinguished from natural) law; and that 
in no country or age could it be traced back to any other source. 
Will some one please tell me where is the positive law that estab- 
lishes slavery in Kansas? [A voice: "The bogus laws."] Aye, 
the hogus laws! And, on the same principle, a gang of Missouri 
horse-thieves could come into Illinois and declare horse-stealing 
to be legal [Laughter], and it would be just as legal as slavery 
is in Kansas. But by express statute, in the land of Washington 
and Jefferson, we may soon be brought face to face with the dis- 
creditable fact of showing to the v;orld by our acts that we prefer 
slavery to freedom — darkness to light! [Sensation.] 

It is, I believe, a principle in law that when one party to a 
contract violates it so grossly as to chiefly destroy the object for 
which it is made, the other party may rescind it. I will ask 
Browning if that ain't good law. [Voices: "Yes!"] Well, now 
if that be right, I go for rescinding the whole, entire Missouri 
Compromise and thus turning Missouri into a free State; and I 
shovild lilce to know the difference — should like for any one to 
point out the dift'erence — between our making a free State of 
Missouri and their making a slave State of Kansas. [Great ap- 
plause.] There ain't one bit of difference, except that our way 
would be a great mercy to humanity. But I have never said — 
and the Whig party has never said — and those who oppose the 
Nebraska bill do not as a body say, that they have any intention 
of interfering with slavery in the slave States. Our platform says 
just the contrary. We allow slavery to exist in the slave States, — • 
not because slavery is right or good, but from the necessities of 
")ur Union. We grant a fugitive slave law because it is so " nom- 
inated in the bond;" because our fathers so stipvilated — had to — 
and we are bound to carry out this agreement. But they did not 
agree to introduce slavery in regions where it did not ])reviously 
exist. On the contrary, they said by their example and teachings 
that they did not deem it expedient — did not consider it riglit — 
to do so; and it is wise and right to do just as they did about it 
[Voices: *' Good! "1. and that is what we propose — not to interfere 



3M LIFE OF LINCOLN 

witli slavery wliere it exists (we have never tried to do it), and 
to give them a reasonable and efficient fugitive slave law. |A 
voice: "No!"] T sav YES! [Applause.] It was part of the 
bargain, and I'm for living up to it ; biit I go no further ; I'm not 
bound to do more, and I won't agree any further. [Great ap- 
_)]ause.] 

We, here in Illinois, should feel especially proud of the pro- 
vision of the ]\Iisf;nuri Compromise excluding slavery from what 
is now Kansas; for an Illinois man, Jesse B. Thomas, was its 
father. Henry Clay, who is credited with the authorship of the 
Compromise in general terms, did not even vote for that pro- 
vision, but only advocated the ultimate admission by a second 
compromise; and Thomas was, beyond all controversy, the real 
author of the " slavery restriction " branch of the Compromise. 
To show the generosity of the Northern members toward the South- 
ern side: on a test vote to exclude slavery from Missouri, ninety 
voted not to exclude, and eighty-seven to exclude, every vote from 
the slave States being ranged with the former and fourteen votes 
from the free States, of whom seven were from N"ew England 
alone; while on a vote to exclude slavery from what is now Kan- 
sas, the vote was one hundred and thirty-four for, to forty-two 
against. The scheme, as a whole, was, of course, a vSouthern 
triumph. It is idle to contend otherwise, as is now being done 
by the Nebraskites; it was so sho-mi by the votes and (]uife as em- 
phatically by the expressions of representative men. Mr. T^owndes 
of South Carolina was never known to commit a political mistake; 
his was the great judgment of that section ; and he declared that 
this measure "would restore tranquillity to the country — a result 
demanded by every consideration of discretion, of moderation, of 
wisdom, and of virtue." When the measure came before Presi- 
dent Monroe for his approval, he put to each member of his cabi- 
net this question: "Has Congress the constitutional power to 
prohibit slavery in a territory?" And John C. Calhoun and Wil- 
liam H. Crawford from the South, eqiially wilh John Quincy 
Adams, Benjamin Rush, and Smith Thompson from tlie North, 
alike answered, "Yes!" without qualification or ecjuivocation ; 
and this measure, of so great consequence to the South, was passed ; 
and Missouri was, by means of it, finally enabled to knock at the 
door of the Republic for an open passage to its brood of slaves. 
And, in spite of this, Freedom's share is about to be taken by vio- 
lence — by the force of misrepresentative votes, not called for by 
the popular will. What name can T, in connuou decency, give to 
this wicked transaction? [Sensation.] 

But even then the contest was not over; for when the "Missouri 
constitution came before Congress for its ap])roval, it forbade any 
free negro or mulatto from entering the State. In short, our Illi- 
nois " black laws " were hidden away in their constitution [laugh- 
ter], and tlie controversy was thus revived. Then it was that l^fr. 
Clay's talents shone out conspicuously, and th controversy that 



APPENDIX 315 

shook the Union to its foundation was finally settlod to the satis- 
faction of the conservative parties on V)oth sides of the line, though 
not to the extremists on either, and ]\Iissouri was ailiiiiltcd hy the 
small majority of six in the lower House. How ^reat a majority, 
do you think, would liave been given had Kansas also been secured 
for slavei-y ? [A voice: "A majority the other wa.y."j "A ma- 
jority the other way," is answered. Do you think it would have 
been safe for a Northern man to have confronted his constituents 
after having voted to consign both Missouri and Kansas to hope- 
less slavery? And yet this man Douglas, who misrepresents his 
constituents and who has exerted his highest talents in that di- 
rection, will be carried in triumph through the State and hailed 
with honor while applauding that act. [Three groans for " Dug! "] 
And this shows whither we are tending. This thing of slavery is 
more powerful than its supporters — even than the high priests that 
minister at its altar. It debauches even our greatest men. It 
gathers strength, like a rolling snow-ball, by its own infamy. Mon- 
strous crimes are committed in its name by persons collectively 
which they would not dare to commit as individuals. Its aggres- 
sions and encroachments almost surpass belief. In a despotism, 
one might not wonder to see slavery advance steadily and remorse- 
lessly into new dominions; but is it not wonderful, is it not even 
alarming, to see its steady advance in a land dedicated to the 
proposition that "all men are created equal?" [Sensation.] 

It yields nothing itself; it keeps all it has, and gets all it can 
besides. It really came dangerously near securing Illinois in 
1824; it did get Missouri in 1821. The first proposition was to 
admit what is now Arkansas and Missouri as one slave State. 
But the territory was divided and Arkansas came in, without se- 
rious question, as a slave State; and atterwards Missouri, not as 
a sort of equality, free, but also as a slave State. Then we had 
Florida and Texas; and now Kansas is about to be forced into the 
dismal procession. [Sensation.] And so it is wherever you look. 
We have not forgotten — it is but six years since — how dangerously 
near California came to being a slave State. Texas is a slave 
State, and four other slave States may be carved from its vast 
domain. And yet, in the year 1829, slavery was abolished through- 
out that vast region by a royal decree of the then sovereign of 
Mexico. Will you please tell me by what right slavery exists in 
Texas to-day? By the same right as, and no higher or greater 
than, slavery is seeking dominion in Kansas: by political force — 
peaceful, if that will suffice; by the torch (as in Kansas) and the 
bludgeon (as in the Senate chamber), if required. And so his- 
tory repeats itself; and even as slavery has kept its course by 
craft, intimidation, and violence in the past, so it will persist, 
in my judgment, until met and dominated by the will of a people 
bent on its restriction. 

We have, this very afternoon, heard bitter denunciations of 
Brooks in Washington, and Titus, String-fellow, Atchison, Jones, 



3i6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

and Shannon in Kansas — the battle-ground of slavery. T cer- 
tainly am not going to advocate or shield them; but they and 
their acts are but the necessary outcome of the Nebraska law. 
We should reserve our highest censure for the authors of the 
mischief, and not for the catspaws which they use. I believe it 
was Shakespeare who said, " Where the offence lies, there let the 
axe fall; " and, in my opinion, this man Douglas and the Northern 
men in Congress who advocate " Nebraska " are more guilty 
than a thousand Joneses and Stringfellows, with all their mur- 
derous practices, can be. [Applause.] 

We have made a good beginning here to-day. As our Methodist 
friends would say, " I feel it is good to be here." While extrem- 
ists may find some fault with the moderation of our platform, 
they should recollect that " the battle is not always to the strong, 
nor the race to the swift." In grave emergencies, moderation is 
generally safer than radicalism ; and as this struggle is likely to be 
long and earnest, we must not, by our action, repel any who are 
in sympathy with us in the main, but rather win all that we can 
to our standard. We must not belittle nor overlook the facts of 
our condition — that we are new and comparatively weak, while 
our enemies are entrenched and relatively strong. They have 
the administration and the political power; and, right or wrong, 
at present they have the numbers. Our friends who urge an ap- 
peal to arms with so much force and eloquence, should recollect 
that the government is arrayed against us, and that the num- 
bers are now arrayed against us as well ; or, to sta^e it 
nearer to the truth, they are not yet expressly and affirmatively 
for us; and we should repel friends rather than gain them by 
anything savoring of revolutionary methods. As it now stands, 
we must appeal to the sober sense and patriotism of the people, 
We will make converts day by day; we will grow strong by calm- 
ness and moderation; we will grow strong by the violence and 
injustice of our adversaries. And, unless truth be a mockery and 
justice a hollow lie, we will be in tlie majority after a while, and 
then the revolution which we will accomplish will be none tlie 
less radical from being the result of pacific measures. Thii? 
battle of freedom is to be fought out on i^rinciple. Slavery is 
a violation of the eternal right. We have temijorized with it from 
the necessities of our condition; but as sure as God reigns and 
school children read, that black foul iak can never be conse- 
crated INTO God's hallowed truth! [Immense applause lasting 
some time.] One of our greatest difficulties is, that men wlio 
know that slavery is a detestable crime and ruinous to the nation, 
are compelled, by our peculiar condition and other circumstances, 
to advocate it concretely, though damning it in the raw. Henry 
Clay was a brilliant example of this tendency; others of our purest 
statesmen are compelled to do so; and tlms slavery secures actual 
support from those who detest it at heart. \ ::t Henry Clay per- 
fected and forced through tJae Compromise which secured to 



APPENDIX 317 

slavery a great State as well as a political advantafre. Not tlmt 
he hated slavery less, hut that he loved the whole riiion more. 
As long as slavery profited hy his great Compromise, the hosts of 
pro-slavery could not sufficiently cover him v^^ith praise; but now 
that this Compromise stands in their way — 

"... they never mention him. 
His name is never heard : 
Their lips are now forbid to speak 
That once familiar word." 

They have slaughtered one of his most cherished measttres, and 
his ghost would arise to rebuke them. [Great applause.] 

Now, let us harmonize, my friends, and appeal to the moderation 
and patriotism of the people: to the sober second thought; to the 
awakened public conscience. The repeal of the sacred ]\Iissouri 
Compromise has installed the weapons of violence: the bludgeon, 
the incendiary torch, the death-dealing rifle, the bristling cannon — • 
the weapons of kingcratt, of the inquisition, of ignorance, of bar- 
barism, of oppression. We see its fruits in the dying bed of the 
heroic Sumner ; in the ruins of the " Free State " hotel ; in the 
smoking embers of the "Herald of Freedom;" in the free-State 
Governor of Kansas chained to a stake on freedom's soil like a 
horse-thief, for the crime of freedom. [Applause.] We see it in 
Christian statesmen, and Christian newspapers, and Christian 
pulpits applauding the cowardly act of a low hully, who crawled 

UPON HIS VICTIM BEHIND HIS BACK AND DEALT THE DEADLY BLOW. 

[Sensation and applause.] We note our political demoralization 
in the catch-words that are coming into such common use; on the 
one hand, " freedom-shriekers," and sometimes " freedom-screech- 
ers " [Laughter] ; and, on the other hand, " border ruffians," and 
that fully deserved. And the significance of catch-words cannot 
pass unheeded, for they constitute a sign of the times. Every- 
thing in this world " jibes " in with everything else, and all the 
fruits of this Nebraska bill are like the poisoned source from 
which they come. I will not say that we may not sooner or later 
be compelled to meet force by force; but the time has not yet 
come, and if we are true to ourselves, may never come. Do not 
mistake that the ballot is stronger than the bullet. Therefore let 
the legions of slavery use bullets; but let us wait patiently till 
November and fire ballots at them in return; and by that peaceful 
policy, I believe we shall ultimately win. [Applause.] 

It was by that policy that here in Illinois the early fathers 
fought the good fight and gained the victory. In 1824 the free 
men of our State, led by Governor Coles (who was a native of 
Maryland and President Madison's private secretary), deter- 
mined that those beautiful groves should never reecho the dirge 
of one who has no title to himself. By their resolute determina- 
tion, the wi^idc that sweep across our broad prairies shall never cool 
the parched orow, nor shall the unfettered streams that bring jo.v 



oi8 1-IFE OF LINCOLN 

and gladness to our free soil water the tired feet, of a slave; but 
so long as those heavenly breezes and sparkling streams bless the 
land, or the groves and their fragrance or memory remain, the 
humanity to which they minister shall be forkvkr free ! [Great 
applause.] Palmer, Yates, Williams, Browning, and some more 
in this convention came from Kentucky to Illinois (instead of 
going to Missouri), not only to better their conditions, but also 
to get away from slavery. They have said so to me, and it is under- 
stood among us Iventuckians that we don't like it one bit. Now, 
can we, mindful of the blessings of liberty which the early men 
of Illinois left to us, refuse a like privilege to the free men who 
seek to plant Freedom's banner on our Western outposts? ["No! 
No ! "] Shoiild we not stand by our neighbors who seek to better 
their conditions in Kansas and Nebraska ? [" Yes ! " " Yes ! "] 
Can we as Christian men, and strong and free ourselves, wield the 
sledge or hold the iron which is to manacle anew an already op- 
pressed race? ["No! No!"] "Woe unto them," it is written, 
" that decree vuirighteous decrees and that write grievousness 
which they have prescribed." Can we afford to sin any more deeply 
against human liberty ? [" No ! No ! "] 

One great trouble in the matter is, that slavery is an insidious 
and crafty power, and gains equally by open violence of the 
brutal as well as by sly management of the peaceful. Even after 
the ordinance of 1787, the settlers in Indiana and Illinois (it was 
all one government then) tried to get Congress to allow slavery 
temporarily, and petitions to that end were sent from Kaskaskia, 
and General Harrison, the Governor, urged it from Vincenncs, 
the capital. If tliat had succeeded, good-by to liberty here. But 
John Randolph of Virginia made a vigorous report against it; 
and although they persevered so well as to get three favorable 
reports for it, yet the United States Senate, with the aid of some 
slave States, finally squelched it for good. [Applause.] And 
that is why this hall is to-day a temple for free men instead of a 
negro livery stable. [Great applause and laughter.] Once let 
slavery get planted in a locality, by ever so weak or doubtful a 
title, and in ever so small numbers, and it is like the Canada thistle 
or Bermuda grass — you can't root it out. You yourself may 
detest slavery; but your neighbor has five or six slaves, and 
he is an excellent neighbor, or your son has married his daughter, 
and they beg you to lielp save their property, and you vote against 
your interest and principles to accommodate a neighbor, hoping 
that your vote will be on the losing side. And others do the 
same; and in those ways slavery gets a sure foothold. And when 
that is done the whole miglity T^nion — the force of the nation — 
is committed to its support. And that very process is working 
in Kansas to-day. And you must recollect that the slave property 
is worth a billion of dollars ($1,000,000,000) ; while free-State men 
must work for sentiment alone. Then there are " blue lodges " — ■ 
"o tbey call them — everywhere doing their secret and deadly work. 



APPENDIX 



319 



It is a very strange thing:, and not solvable by any moral law 
that 1 know of, that if a man losivs his horse, the whole eounlry will 
turn out to help hang the thief; hut if a man but a sluule or two 
darker than I am is himself stulim, the same erowd will hang one 
who aids in restoring him to liberty. Such are the inconsisten- 
sies of slavery, where a horse is more sacred than a iiuni ; and the 
essence of squatter or popular sovereignty — I don't care how you 
call it — is that if one man chooses to make a slave of another, 
no third man shall be allowed to object. And if you can do this 
in free Kansas, and it is allowed to stand, the next ihing you 
will see is ship loads of negroes from Africa at the wharf at 
Charleston; for one thing is as truly lawful as the other; and 
these are the bastard notions we have got to stamp out, else they 
will stamp us out. [Sensation and apphuise.] 

Two years ago, at Springtield, Judge Douglas avowed that Illi- 
nois came into the Union as a slave State, and that shivery wad 
weeded out by the operation of his great, patent, everlasting prin- 
ciple of "popular sovereignty." [Laughter.] Well, now, that 
argument must be answered, for it has a little grain of truth at 
the bottom. I do not mean that it is true in essence, as he would 
have us believe. It could not be essentially true if the ordinance 
of '87 was valid. But, in point of fact, there were some degratled 
beings called slaves in Ivaskaskia and the other French settlements 
when our first State constitution was adopted; that is a fact, and 
I don't deny it. Slaves were brought here as early as 1720, and 
were kept here in spite of the ordinance of 1787 against it. But 
slavery did not thrive here. On the contrary, under the influence 
of the ordinance, the number decreased fifty-one from 1810 to 1820; 
while under the influence of squatter sovereignty, right across the 
river in Missouri, they increased seven thousand two hundred and 
eleven in the same time; and slavery finally faded out in Illinois, 
under the influence of the lavv of freedom, while it grew stronger and 
stronger in Missouri, mader the law or practice of "popular sovereign- 
ty." In point of fact there were but one hundred and seventeen slaves 
in Illinois one year after its admission, or one to every four hun- 
dred and seventy of its population; or, to state it in another way, 
if Illinois was a slave State in 1820, so were New York and New 
Jersey much greater slave States from having had greatcu* num- 
bers, slavery having been established there in very early times. 
But there is this vital difference between all these States and the 
judge's Kansas experiment; that they sought to disestablish slav- 
ery which had been already established, while the judge seeks, so 
far as he can, to disestablish freedom, which had been established 
there by the Missouri Compromise. [Voices: "Good!"] 

The Union is undergoing a fearful strain; but it is a stout old 
ship, and has weathered many a hard blow, and " ihe stars in 
their courses," aye, an invisible power, greater than tlie puny eft'orts 
of men, will fight for us. But we ourselves must not decline the 
burden of responsibility, nor take counsel of unworthy passions, 



320 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Whatever duty urges us to do or to omit, must be done or omitted; 
and the recklessness with which our adversaries break the laws, 
or counsel their violation, should aflford no example for us. There- 
iore, let us revere the Declaration of Independence; let us continue 
to obey the Constitution and the laws; let us keep step to the 
music of the Union. Let us draw a cordon, so to speak, around the 
slave States, and the hateful institution, like a reptile poisoning it- 
self, will perish by its own infamy. [Applause.] 

But we cannot be free men if this is, by our national choice, 
to be a land of slavery. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve 
it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot 
long retain it. [Loud applause.] 

Did you ever, my friends, seriously reflect upon the speed with 
which we are tending downwards? Within the m.emory of men 
now present the leading statesmen of Virginia could make genuine, 
red-hot abolitionist speeches in old Virginia ! and, as I have said, 
now even in " free Kansas " it is a crime to declare that it is " free 
Kansas." The very sentiments that I and others have just ut- 
tered, would entitle us, and each of us, to the ignominy and se- 
clusion of a dungeon; and yet I suppose that, like Paul, we were 
" free born." But if this thing is allowed to continue, it will be 
but one step further to impress the same rule in Illinois. [Sensa- 
tion.] 

The conclusion of all is, that we must restore the Missouri 
Compromise. We must highly resolve that Kansas must he free! 
[Great applause.] We must reinstate the birthday promise of the 
llepublic; we must reaffirm the Declaration of Independence; we 
must make good in essence as well as in form Madison's avowal 
that " the word slave ought not to appear in the Constitution ; " 
and we must even go further, and decree that only local law, and 
not that time-honored instrument, shall shelter a slave-holder. We 
must make this a land of liberty in fact, as it is in name. 
But in seeking to attain these results — so indispensable if tlu' lib- 
erty which is our pride and boast shall endure — we will be loyal 
to the Constitution and to the " flag of our T^nion," and no matter 
what our grievance — even tliough Kansas shall come in as a slave 
State; and no matter what theirs — even if we shall restore the (Com- 
promise — WK WILL SAY TO TIIK SoUTIlEIJX DISUNIONISTS, WlC WON't 

GO OUT OF THE Union, AND YOU SHAN'T! ! ! [This was the cli- 
max; the audience rose to its feet en masse, applauded, stami)ed, 
waved handkerchiefs, threw hats in the air, and ran riot for sev- 
eral miimtes. The arch-enchanter who wrought this transforma- 
tion looked, meanwhile, like the personification of political jus- 
tice.] 

But let us, meanwhile, appeal, to the sense and patriotism of 
the people, and not to their invjudiees; let us spread the floods 
of enthusiasm here aroused all ov^v these vast prairies, so sugges- 
tive of freedom. Let us oommence by electing the gallant sol- 
dier Governor (Colonel) Bissell who stood for the honor of our 



APPENDIX ,2 1 

State alike on the plains and amidst the chaparral of Mexico and 
ou the floor of Congress, while he detied the Southern Hotspur; 
and that will have a greater moral effect than all the border ruf- 
fians can accomplish in all their raids on Kansas. There is both 
a power and a magic in popular opinion. To that let us now ap- 
peal; and while, in all probability, no resort to force will be needed, 
our moderation and forbearance will stand vis in good stead when, 
if e\'er, we must wake an appeal to battle and to the God op 
HOSTS ! ! [Immense applause and a rush for the orator.] 

William Grimes. 

Springfield, Illinois, July 12, 1856. 

Yours of the 29th of June was duly received. I did not an- 
swer it because it plagued me. This morning I received an- 
other from Judd and Peck, written by consultation with you. Now 
let me tell you why I am plagued: 

1. I can hardly spare the time. 

2. I am superstitious. I have scarcely known a party pre- 
ceding an election to call in help from the neighboring States, 
but they lost the State. Last fall, our friends had Wade, of 
Ohio, and others, in Maine; and they lost the State. Last spring 
our adversaries had New Hampshire full of South Carolinians, 
and they lost the State. And so, generally, it seems to stir up 
more enemies than friends. 

Have the enemy called in any foreign help ? If they have a 
foreign champion there, I should have no objection to drive a 
nail in his track. I shall reach Chicago on the night of the ir)th, 
to attend to a little business in court. Consider the things I have 
suggested, and write me at Chicago. Especially write me whether 
Browning consents to visit you. Your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln. 

(From " Life of Wm. Grimes," by Salter.) 

John Bennett. 

Springfield, Aug. 4, 1856. 
John Bennett, Esq. 

Dear Sir: I understand you are a Fillmore man — If, as be- 
tween Fremont and Buchanan you really prefer the election of 
Buchanan, then burn this without reading a line fin-ther — But 
if you would like to defeat Buchanan and his gang, allow me 
a word with you — • Dm^-s any one pretend that Fillmore can 
carry the vote of this State? T have not heard a single man pre- 
tend so — Every vote taken from Fremont and given to Fillmore is 
just so much in favor of Buchanan. The Buchanan men see this; 
and hence their great anxiety in favor of the Fillmore movement — 
They know where the shoe pinches — They now greatly prefer 
having a man of your character g'o for Fillmore than for Buchanan 
(21) 



322 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

because they expect several to go with you, who would go for 
Fremont, if you were to go directly for Buchanan. 

I think I now understand the relative strength of the tliree par- 
ties in this state as well as any one man does and my opinion 
is that to-day Buchanan has alone 85,000 — Fremont 78,000 and 
Fillmore 21,000. This gives B. the state by 7,000 and leaves him 
in the minority of the whole 14,000. 

Fremont and Fillmore men being united on Bissell as they al- 
reatly are, he can not be beaten — This is not a long letter, biit 
it contains the whole story. Yours as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by E. R. Oeltjen, Petersburg, 111.) 

Springfield, Aug. 19, 1856. 

Dear Dubois : Your letter on the same sheet with Mr. Miller's is 
just received. I have been absent four days. I do not know when 
your court sits. 

Trumbull has written the Committee here to have a set of 
appointments made for him connuencing here in Springfield, 
on the 11th of Sept., and to extend throughout the south half 
of the State. When he goes to Lawrenceville, as he will, I will 
strain every nerve to be with you and him. More than that I can- 
not promise now. Yours as truly as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by C. F. Gunther, Chicago, 111.) 

Dr. R. Boal, Lacon, 111. 

Sept. 14, 1856. 
Dr. R. Boal. 

Mv Dear Siij: Yours of the 8th inviting me to be with (you) 
at Lacon on the .'50th is received. I feel that I o vo you and our 
friends of Marsliall, a good d(>al ; and 1 will coiiio if I can; and 
if T do not get there, if will be because I .shall think my efforts 
are now needed further South. 

Present my regards to ]\Irs. Boal, and believe (me), as ever 

Your friend, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Dr. Robert Boal, Lacon, 111.) 

Dr. R. Boal, Lacon, 111. 

Spring EiKLD, Dec. 25, 1856. 
Dr. R. Boal. 

Dear Sii? : When I was at Chicago two weeks ago T saw Mr. 
Arnold, and from a remark of his, T inferred he was thinking of 
the Speakership, though I think he was not anxious about it. 



APPENDIX 323 

He seemed most anxious for harmony generally, nnd pjrticularly 
that the contested seats from Peoria and McDoiiniiiih niiiilit be 
riglitly determined. Since 1 ciiine homo I had a talk witli Cul- 
lom, one of our American i-cpresentatives here, and ho says he 
is for you for Speaker, and also that he thinks all the Americans 
will be for you, unless it be Gorin, of IVIacon, of whom he cannot 
speak. If you would like to be Speaker g-o right up and see 
Arnold. He is talented, a practiced debater, and, I think, would do 
himself more credit on the lloor than in the Speaker's seat. Go and 
see him; and if you think fit, show him this letter. 

Your friend as ever,. 

(Original owned by Dr. Robert Boal, Lacon, 111,/ 

(Private.) 

Spiunufifxd, Ti.l., February 20, 1857. 
John E. Rosette, Esq. : 

Dear Sir: Your note about the little paragraph in the " Re- 
Ijublicau" was received yesterday, since which time I have been 
too unw^ell to notice it. 1 had not supposed you wrote or approved 
it. The whole originated in mistake. You know by the conversa- 
tion with me that I thought the establishment of the paper unfor- 
tunate, but I always expected to throw no obstacle in its way, and 
to patronize it to the extent of taking and paying for one copy. 
When the paper was brought to my house, my wife said to me, 
"Now are you going to take another worthless little paper?" I 
said to her evnf<irehj, "I have not directed the paper to be left." 
From this, in my absence, she sent the message to the carrier. Thig 
is the whole story. 

' Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(From Herndon's "Life of Lincoln.") 

To William Grimes. 

Springfield, Illinois, August, 1857. 

Dear Sir: Yours of the 14th is receivetl, and T am much 
obliged for the legal information you give. 

You <'an scarcely be more anxious than I that th(^ next election 
in Iowa should result in favor of the Republicans. I lost nearly 
all the working-part of last year, giving my time to the canvass; 
and I am altogether too poor to lose two years together. I am 
engaged in a suit in the United States Court at Chicago, in which 
the Rock Island Bridge Company is a party. The trial is to com- 
mence on the 8th of September, and probably will last two or three 
weeks. During the trial it is not improbable that all hands may 
come over and take a look at the bridge, and, if it were possible 



324 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

to make it hit right, I could then speak at Davenport. My courts 
go right on without cessation till late in jS^ovember. Write me 
again, pointing- out the moi'e striking points of difference be- 
tween your old and new constitutions, and also whether Demo- 
cratic and Kepublican party lines were drawn in the adoption of 
it, and which were for and which were against it. If, by 
possibility, 1 could get over among you it might be of some ad- 
vantage to knuw these things in advance. Yours very truly, 

A. Lincoln. 
(From " Life of Wm. Grimes," by Salter.) 

LINCOLN'S ARGUMENT IN THE EOCK ISLAND BRIDGE 

CASE. 

From " The Daily Press " of Chicago, Sept. 24, 1857. 

THE EOCK ISLAND BEIDGE CASE. 

HURD ET AL. 
VS. 

Railroad Bridge Co. 



FxiTED States Circuit Court, 
Hon. John McClean, Presiding Judge. 
13th day, Tuesday, Sept. 22nd, 1857. 

HONOEABLE ABEAM LINCOLN'S AEGUMENT. 

Mr. A. Lincoln addressed the jury. He said he did not purpose to 
assail anybody, that he expected to grow earnest as he proceeded 
but not ill natured. "There is some conflict of testi- 
mony in the case," he said, " but one quarter of such a number 
of witnesses seldom agree and even if all were on one side, some 
discrepancy might be expected. We are to try and reconcile 
them, and to believe that they are not intentionally erroneous 
as long as we can," He had no prejudice, he said, against steam 
boats or steamboatmen nor any against St. Louis for he sup- 
posed they went about this matter as other people would do in 
their situation. " St. Louis," he continued, " as a commercial 
place may desire that this bridge should not stand as it is ad- 
verse to her conmierce, diverting a ])ortion of it from the river; 
and it may be that she supposes that the additional cost of rail- 
road transportation upon tlio productions of Iowa will force them 
to go to St. Louis if this bridge is removed. The meetings in St. 
Louis are connected with this case only as some witnesses are in 
it and thus has some prejudice added color to their testimony." 

The Inst thing that woidd be pleasing to him, Mr. Lincoln said, 
would be to have one of these great channels extending almost 



APPENDIX 325 

from where it never freezes to where it never thaws blnokcd up 
but there is a travel from east to west whose demands are not less 
important than that of those of the river. It is growing larger and 
larger, building up new countries with a rapidity never before 
seen in the history of the world. He alluded to the astonishing 
growth of Illinois having grown within his memory to a pojjulation 
of a million and a half; to Iowa and the other young rising com- 
mmiities of the northwest. 

" This current of travel," said he, " has its rights as well as that 
of north and south. If the river had not the advantage in priority 
and legislation we could enter into free competition withit and we 
could surjiass it. This particular railroad line has a great im- 
portance and the statement of its business during a little less 
than a year shows this importance. It is in evidence that from 
September 8th, 185G, to August 8th, 1857, 12,586 freight cars and 
7-1,179 passengers passed over this bridge. Navigation was closed 
four days short of four months last year, and -during this time 
while the river was of no use this road and bridge were valuable. 
There is too a considerable portion of time when floating or thin 
ice makes the river useless while the bridge is as useful as ever. 
This shows that this bridge must be treated with respect in this 
court and is not to be kicked about with contempt. The other 
day Judge Wead alluded to the strike of the contending interest 
and even a dissolution of the Union. The proper mode for all 
parties in this affair is to ' live and let live ' and then we will 
find a cessation of this trouble about the bridge. What mood 
were the steamboat men in when this bridge was burned ? Why 
there was a shouting and ringing of bells and whistling on all 
the boats as it fell. It was a jubilee, a greater celebration than 
follows an excited election. The first thing I will proceed to is the 
record of Mr. Gurney and the complaint of Judge Wead that 
the record did not extend back over all the time from the comple- 
tion of the bridge. The principal part of the navigation after the 
bridge was burned passed through the span. When the bridge 
was repaired and the boats were a second time confined to the 
draw it was provided that this record should be kept- That is the 
simple history of that book. 

" From Ai>ril 19th, 1850, to May 6th — seventeen days — tliere were 
twenty accidents and all the time since then there have been but 
twenty hits, including seven accidents, so that the dangers of this 
place are tapering off and as the boatmen get cool the accidents 
get less. We may soon expect if this ratio is kept up that there 
will be no accidents at all. 

" Judge Wead said while admitting that the floats went straight 
through there was a difference between a float and a boat, but I 
do not remember that he indulged us with an argument in sup- 
port of this statement. Is it because there is a diiferenee in size? 
Will not a small body and a large one float the same way under 
the same influence? True a Ant boat will float faster than an 



,^f, LIFE OF LINCOLN 

egg shell and the egg shell might be blown away by the wind, but if 
under tlie S(ime influence they would go the same way. Logs, floats, 
boards, various things the witnesses say all show the same cur- 
rent. Thou is not this test reliable? At all depths too the direc- 
tion of the current is the same. A series of these floats would 
make a line as long as a boat and would show any influence upon 
any part and all parts of the boat. 

" I will now speak of the angular position of the piers. What 
is the amount of the angle ? The course of the river is a curve and 
the pier is straight. If a line is produced from the upper end of 
the long pier straight with the pier to a distance of 350 feet and a 
line is drawn from a point in the channel opposite this point to 
the head of the pier, Colonel Nason says they will form an angle 
of twenty degrees. But the angle if measured at the pier is seven 
degrees, that is we would have to move the pier seven degrees 
to make it exactly straight with the current. Would that make 
the navigation better or worse? The witnesses of the plaintiff 
seem to think it was only necessary to say that the pier formed 
an angle with the current and that settled the matter. Our more 
careful and accurate witnesses say that though they had been 
accustomed to seeing the piers placed straight with the current, 
yet they could see that here the current had been made straight 
by us in having made this slight angle; that the water now runs 
just right, that it is straight and cannot be improved. They think 
that if the pier was changed the eddy would be divided and t'Ae 
navigation improved. 

" I am not now going to discuss the question what is a material 
obstruction. We do not greatly difi^er about the law. The cases 
produced here are I suppose proper to be taken into consideration 
by the court in instructing a jury. Some of them I think are not 
exactly in point, but I am still willing to trust his honor. Judge 
McClean, and take his instructions as law. What is reasonable 
skill and care? This is a thing of which the jury are to judge. 
I differ from the other side when it says that they are bound to 
exercise no more care than was taken before the building of the 
bridge. If we are allowed by the legislature to build the bridge 
which will require them to do more than before when a pilot 
comes along it is unreasonable for him to dash on lieedless of this 
structure which has been legally put there. The Afton came there 
on the 5th and lay at Rock Tslniid until next morning. When a 
boat lies up the pilot has a holiday, and would not any of these 
jurors have then gone around to the bridge and gotten acquainted 
with the place. Pilot Parker lias shown here that he does not 
understand the draw. I heard him say that the fall from the head 
to the foot O'f the pier was four feet; he needs information. He 
could have gone tiierc +hjit day and seen there was no such fall. 
He should have discarded pas^ir::^ and the chances are that he 
would have had no disaster at all. He was boun'S to make himself 
acquainted with the place. 



APPENDIX ^^7 

" McCammon says that the current and the swell coming from 
the long pier drove her against the long pier. In other words 
drove her toward the very pier from which the current came ! It 
is an absurdity, an impossibility. The only recollection 1 can 
find for this contradiction is in a current which White says strikes 
out from the long pier and then like a ram's horn turns back and 
this might have acted somehow in this manner. 

" It is agreed by all that the plaintiff's boat was destroyed and 
that it was destroyed upon the head of the short pier; that she 
moved fronx the channel where she was with her bow above the 
head of the long pier; till she struck the short one, swung around 
under the bridge and there v/as crowded and destroyed. 

" I shall try to prove that the average velocity of the current 
through the draw with the boat in it should be five and a half 
miles an hour ; that it is slowest at the head of the pier and swiftest 
at the foot of the piei*. Their lowest estimate in evidence is six 
miles an hour, their highest twelve miles. This was the testi- 
mony of men who had made no experiment, only conjecture. We 
have adopted the most exact means. The water runs swiftest in 
high water and we have taken the point of nine feet above low 
water. The water when the Afton was lost was seven feet above 
low water, or at least a foot lower than our time. Brayton and 
his assistants timed the instrument. The best instruments known 
in measuring currents. They timed them under various circum- 
stances and they found the current five miles an hour and no 
more. They found that the water at the upper end ran slower 
than five miles; that below it was swifter than five miles, but that 
the average was five miles. Shall men who have taken no care, 
who conjecture, some of whom speak of twenty miles an hour, be 
believed against those who have had such a favorable and well 
improved opportunity? They should not even qualify the result. 
Several men have given their opinion as to the distance of the 
stonmboat Cnrnon and I suppose if one should go and measure 
that distance you would believe him in preference to all of them. 

" These measurements were made when the boat was not in the 
draw. It has been ascertained what is the area of the cross sec- 
tion of this stream and the area of the face of the piers and the 
engineers say that the piers being put there will increase the cur- 
rent proportionally as the space is decreased. So with the boat 
in the draw. The depth of the channel was twenty-two feet, the 
width one hundred and sixteen feet, multiply there and you have 
the scpiare feet across the water of the draw, viz.: 2,552 feet. The 
Aflon was o5 feet wide and drew 5 feet, making a fom-teenth of 
the sum. Now, one-fourteenth of five miles is five-fourteenths of 
one mile — nbout one third of a mile — the increase of the current. 
We will call the current five and a half miles per hour. 'J'he next 
thing 1 will try to prove is that the plaintiff's ( ?) boat had power 
to run six miles an hour in that current. It has boon testified 
that she was a stroi>g, swift boat, able to run eight miles an hour 



328 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

up stream in a current of four miles an hour and fifteen miles down 
stream. Strike the average and you will find what is her average — 
about eleven and a half miles. Take the five and a half miles 
which is the speed of the current in the draw and it leaves the 
power of that boat in that draw at six miles an hour, 528 feet 
per minute and 8 4-5 feet to the second. 

" Next I propose to show that there are no cross currents. I 
know their witnesses say that there are cross currents — that as 
one witness says there were three cross currents and two eddies; 
so far as mere statement without experiment and mingled with 
mistakes can go they have proved. But can these men's testi- 
mony be compared with the nice, exact, thorough experiments of 
our witnesses. Can you believe that these fioats go across the 
currents? It is inconceivable that they could not have discov- 
ered every possible current. How do boats find currents that 
floats cannot discover? We assume the position then that those 
cross currents are not there. My next proposition is that the Afton 
passed between the >S'. B. Carson and the Iowa shore. That is un- 
disputed. 

" Next I shall show that she struck first the short pier, then the 
long pier, then the short one again and there she stopped." 

Mr. Lincoln then cited the testimony of eighteen witnesses on 
this point. 

" How did the boat strike when she went in ? Here is an end- 
less variety of opinion. But ten of them say what pier she struck ; 
three of them testify that she struck first the short, then the long 
and then the short for the last time. None of the rest substan- 
tially contradict this. I assume that these men have got the 
truth because I believe it an established fact. My next proposi- 
tion is that after she struck the short and long pier and before she 
got back to the short pier the boat got right with her bow up. So 
says the pilot Parker — * that he got her throug-h until her star- 
board wheel passed tlio short pier.' This would make her head about 
even with the head of the long pier. He says her head was as high 
or higher than the head of the long pier. Other witnesses confirmed 
this one. The final stroke was in the splasli door aft the wheel. 
Witnesses differ but the majority say that slie struck thus." 

Court adjourned. 

14th day, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 1857. 

Mr. A. Lincoln resumed. lie said he should conciuue as soon as 
possible. He said the colored map of the plaintiff which was 
brought in during one stage of the trial showed itself that the 
cross currents alleged did not exist. That the current as repre- 
sented would drive an ascending- boat to.tlie long pier but not 
to the short pier, as they urge. He explained from a model of a 
boat where the splash door is just behind the wheel. The boat 
struck on the lower shoulder of the short pier as she swung around 



APPENDIX 329 

m the splash door, then as she went on around she struck the 
point or end of the pier where she rested. " Her engineers," said 
Mr. lancohi, " say the starboard wheel then was rushing- around 
rapidly. Then the boat must have struek the upper point ol tlie 
pier so far back as not to disturb the wlieel. It is forty feet 
from the stern of the Afioii to the splash door and thus it appears 
that she had but forty feet to go to clear the pier. How was it 
that the Afton with all her power flanked over from the channel 
to the short pier without moving one foot ahead? Suppose she 
was in the middle of the draw, her wheel would have been 31 feet 
from the short pier. The reason she went over thus is her star- 
board wheel was not working. I shall try to establish the fact 
that the wheel was not running and that after she struck she 
went ahead strong on this same wheel. Upon the last i)oiat the 
witnesses agree that the starboard wheel was running after she 
struck and no witnesses say that it was running while she was 
out in the draw flanking over," 

Mr. Lincoln read from the testimonies of various witnesses to 
j^rove that the starboard wheel was not working while the Aflon 
was ovit in the stream. 

" Other witnesses show that the captain said something of the 
machinery of the wheel and the inference is that he knew the 
wheel was not working. The fact is undisputed that she did not 
move one inch ahead while she was moving this 31 feet sideways. 
There is evidence proving that the ciu'rent there is only five miles 
an hour and the only explanation is that her power was not all 
used — that only one wheel was working. The pilot says he or- 
dered the engineers to back her up. The engineers differ from 
him and said they kept one going ahead. The bow was so swung 
that the current pressed it over; the pilot pressed the 
stern over with the rudder though not so fast but that the bow 
gained on it and only one wheel being in motion the boat nearly 
stood still so far as motion up and down is concerned, and thus 
she was thrown upon this pier. The Afton came into the draw 
after she had just passed the Carson and as the Carson no doubt 
kept the true course the Afton going around her got out of the 
proper way, got across the current into the eddy which is west of 
a straight line drawn down from the long pier, was comiielled to 
resort to these changes of wheels which she did not do with suffi- 
cient adroitness to save her. Was it not her own fault that she 
entered wrong, so far wrong that she never got right? Is the de- 
fense to blame for that? 

" For several days we were entertained with depositions about 
boats 'smelling a bar.' Why did the Afton then after she had 
come up smelling so close to the long pier sheer off so strangely 
when she got to the center of the very nose she was smelling she 
seemed suddenly to have lost her sense of smell and to have flanlcod 
over to the short pier." 

Mr. Lincoln said there was no practicability iu the project of 



330 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

building a tunnel under the river, for there " is not a tunnel that 
is a successful project in this world. A suspension bridge cannot 
be built so high but t)iat the chimneys of the boats will grow up 
till they cannot pass. The steaniboatinen will take pains to make 
them grow. The cars of a railroad cannot without immense ex- 
pense rise high enough to get even with a suspension bridge or 
go low enough to get through a tunnel; such expense is unrea- 
sonable. 

" The plaintiffs have to establish that the bridge is a material 
obstruction and that they have managed their boat with reason- 
able care and skill As to the last point high winds have nothing 
to do with it, for it was not a windy day. They must show due skill 
and care. Difficulties going down stream will not do for they were 
going up stream. Difficulties with barges in tow have nothing to 
do with the accident, for they had no barge." 

Mr. Lincoln said he had much more to say, many things ha 
could suggest to the jury, but he wished to close to save time. 

Jesse K. Dubois. 

Bloomington, Dec. 21, 1857. 

Dear Dubois: J. M. Douglas of the I. C. R. R. Co. is here and 
will carry this letter. He says they have a large sinn (near $9(),0t>0) 
which they will pay into the treasui-y now, if they have an assur- 
ance that they shall not be sued before Jany. 1859 — otherwise not. 
I really wish you could consent to this. Douglas says they can 
not pay more and I believe him. 

I do not write this as a lawyer seeking an advantage for a client ; 
but only as a friend, only urging you to do what I think I would 
do if I were in your situation. I mean this as private and confi- 
dential only, but I feel a good deal of anxiety about it. 

Yours, as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by C. F. Gunther, Chicago, 111.) 

Springfi.eld, Jan. 19, 1858. 
To Hon. Geo. T. Brown: 

Send Jo. Gillespie up here at once. Don't fail. 

A. Lincoln. 
(Copy of note, sent with telegram, from Brown to Gillespie.) 

Dear Jo: 

Have just ree'd this telegraph. I know nothing further. T send 
a buggy for you. Brown. 

(Copy of telegram sent from Abraham Lincoln, [Springfield] to 
Joseph Gillespie, [Edwaidsville] through George T. Brown, 
[Alton].) 

(Original owned by Mrs. Josephine Gillespie Prickett.) 



APPENDIX t; ; i 

Springfield^ 0,.n. 10, 1858. 
Hon. Joseph Gillespie: 

My Dear Sir: This mnniinp: Col. MeClprnand showed mo a 
petition for a niandanms agrainst the Secretary of State to coini)el 
him to certify the apportionment act of last session ; and he says 
it will be presented to the conrt to-morrow morninj?. We shall be 
allowed three or four days to get up a return ; and I, for one, want 
the benefit of consultation with you. 

Please come right up. Yours as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Mrs. Josephine Gillespie Prickett of Ed- 
wardsville, 111.) 



Springfield^ Feb. T, 1858. 
Hon. J. Gillespie: 

My Dear Sir: Yesterday morning the court overruled the de- 
murrer to Hatch's return in the mandamus case. McClernand 
was present; said nothing about pleading over; and so I suppose 
the matter is ended. The court gave no reason for the decision ; 
but Peck tells me confidentially that they were unanimous in the 
opinion that even if the Gov'r had signed the bill purposely, he had 
the right to scratch his name ofP, so long as the bill remained in his 
custody and control. Yours as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Mrs. Josephine Gillespie Prickett of Ed* 
wardsvillc, 111.) 



Mr. Edward G. Miner, Winchester, 111. 

Springfield, Feb. 19, 1858. 
Edward G. ]\riNER, Esq., — 

My Dear Sir: Mr. G. A. Sutton is an applicant for superin- 
tendent of the addition to the Insane Asylum, and I understand it 
partly depends on you whether he gets it. 

Mr. Sutton is my fellow townsman and friend. aTid T ther(>forc 
wish to say for him that he is a man of sterling integrity and as a 
master mechanic and builder not surpassed by any in our city, or 
any I have known anywhere as far as I can judge. 

I hope you will consider me as being really interested for Mr. 
Sutton and not as writing merely to relieve myself of importimity. 

Please show this to Col. William Ross and let him consider it 
as much intended for him as for yourself. 

Your friend as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Edward G. Miner, Jr., Rochester, N. Y.) 



332 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Sydney Spring, Grayville, 111. 

Springfield, June 19, 1858. 
Sydney Spring, Esq., 

My Dear Sir: Your letter introducing Mr. Farec was duly 
received. There was no opening to nominate him for Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction, but through him, Egyi^t made a 
most valuable contribution to the convention. I think it may 
be fairly said that he came oif the lion of the day — or rather of 
the night. Can you not elect him to the Legislature? It seems 
to me he would be hard to beat. What objection could be made 
to him? What is your Senator Martin saying and doing? What 
is Webb about? 

Please write me. Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by S. T. Spring, Grayville, 111.) 

Springfield, July 16, 1858. 
Hon. Joseph Gillespie: 

My Dear Sir : I write this to say that from the specimens of 
Douglas Democracy we occasionally see here from Madison, we 
learn that they are making very confident calculation of beating 
you, and your friends for the lower house, in that county. They 
offer to bet upon it. Billings and Job, respectively, have been up 
here, and were each, as I learn, talking largely about it. If they 
do so, it can on]y be done by carrying the Filhnore men of 1850 very 
differently from what they seem to going in the other party. Below 
is the vote of 1856, in your district. 

Counties. Buchanan. Fremont. Fillmore. 

Bond 607 15.3 6.59 

Madison 1451 1111 16.58 

Montgomery 992 162 686 

3050 1426 3003 

By this you will see, if you go through the calculation, that if 
ihey get one-quarter of the Fillmore votes, and you three-quarters, 
thev will beat you 125 votes. If they get one-fifth, and you four- 
fifths, you boat them 179. In Madison, alone, if our friends get 
1000 of the Fillmore votes, nnd their opponents the remainder, 658, 
we win by just two voles. 

This shows the whole field, on the basis of the election of 1856. 

Whether, since tlien, any Buchanan, or Fremonters, have shifted 
♦ri'ound, and how the majority of new votes will go, you can judge 
better than I. 

Of course you, on the ground, can better determine your line of 
tactics than any one ofT the ground ; Init it behooves you to be wiile 
awake, and actively workiuf^. 



APPENDIX ^••7.- 

%J \J *J 

Don't neglect it ; and write me at yovir first leisure. 

Youi's as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

John Mathers, Jacksonville, 111. 

Springfield, July 20, 1858. 
Jno. Mathers, Esq. 

My Dear Sir: Your kind and interesting letter of the 19th 
was duly received. Your suggestions as to placing one's self on the 
offensive rather than the defensive are certainly correct. That is 
a point which I shall not disregard. I spoke here on Saturday night. 
The speech, not very well reported, appears in the State Journal 
of this morning. You doubtless will see it; and I hope that you 
will perceive in it, that I am already improving. I would mail 
you a copy now, but have not one hand. I thank you for your 
letter and shall be pleased to hear from you again. 

Yours very truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by R. W. Mills, Virginia, 111.) 

Springfield, July 25, 1858. 
Hon. J. Gillespie : 

My Dear Sir: Your doleful letter of the 18th, was received on 
my return from Chicago last night. I do hope you are worse scared 
than hurt, though you ought to know best. We must not lose the 
district. We must make a job of it, and save it. Lay hold of the 
proper agencies, and secure all the Americans you can, at once. I 
do hope, on closer inspection, you will find they are not half gone. 
Make a little test. Run down one of the poll-books of the Ed- 
wardsville precinct, and take the first hundred known American 
names. Then quietly ascertain how many of them are actually 
going for Douglas. I think you will find less than fifty. But even 
if you find fifty, make sure of the other fifty, — that is, make sure of 
all you can, at all events. We will set other agencies to work 
which shall compensate for the loss of a good many Americans. 
Don't fail to cheek the stampede at once. Trumbull, I think, will 
be with you before long. 

There is much he cannot do, and .some he can. I have reason 
to hope there will be other help of an approjiriate kind. Write me 
again. Yours as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Mrs. Josephine Gillespie Prickett of Ed- 
wardsville, Dl.) 

B. C. Cook. 

Springfield, Aug. 2, 1858. 
Hon. B. C. Cook, 

My Dear Sir: I have a letter from a very true friend and in- 



334 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

telligent man insisting that there is a plan on foot in La Salle 
and Bureau to run Douglas republicans for Congress and for 
the Legisiature in tliojse counties, if they can only get the en- 
couragenioiit of our folks nominating pretty extreme abolitionists. 
It is thought they will do nothing if our folks nominate men who 
are not very obnoxious to the charge of abolitionism? Please 
have your eye upon this. 

Signs are looking pretty fair. Yours very truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by C. F. Gunther, Chicago, 111.) 

Hon. J. M. Pakner. 

Springfield, Aug. 5, 1858. 
Hon. J. M. Palmer, 

Dear Sir: Since we parted last evening no new thought has 
occurred to (me) on the subject of which we talked most yes- 
terday. 

I have concluded, however, to speak at your town on Tuesday, 
August 31st, and have promised to have it so appear in the papers 
of to-morrow. Judge Trumbull has not yet reached here. 

Yours as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by the Rev. Preston Wood, Springfield, 111.) 

Springfield, Aug. 11, 1858. 
Alexander Sympson, Esq. : 

Dear Sir: Yours of the 6th received. If life and health, con- 
tinue I shall ])retty likely be at Augusta on the 25th. 

Things look reasonably well. Will tell you more fully when I 
see you. Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by family of Alexander Sympson, Lewistown, 111.) 

Dr. William Fithian, Danville, 111. 

Bloomington, Sept. 3, 1858. 

Dear Doctor: Yours of the 1st was received this morning, as 
also one from Mr Harmon, and one from Hiram Beckwith on the 
same subject. You w'ill see by the Journal that I have appointed 
to speak at Danville on the 22nd of Sept.,— the day after Douglas 
speaks there. My recent ex])orience shows that speaking at the 
same place the next day after D. is the very thing, — it is, in fact, 
a concluding speech on him. Please show this to Messrs. Harmon 
and Beckwith ; and tell them they must excuse me from writing 
separate letters to them. Yours as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

P. S. — Give full notice to all surrounding comitry. 

A. L. 

(Original owned by Dr. P. H. Fithian, Springfield, 111.) 



APPENDIX 335 

Blandinsville, Oct. 26, 1858. 
A. Sympson, Esq.: 

Dear Sir: Since parting with yon this morninji- I Iicard some 
things which make mo believe that Edmunds and IMorrill will 
spend this week among the National Democrats trying to induce 
them to content themselves by voting for Jake Davis, and then to 
vote for the Douglas candidates for Senator and Representative. 
Have this headed oif, if you can. Call Wagley's attention to it, 
and have him and the National Democrat for Rep. to counteract 
it as far as they can. Yours as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by family of Alexander Sympson, Lewistown, 111.) 

Springfield, Dec. 8, 1858. 
H. D. Sharpe, Esq. : 

Dear Sir : Your very kind letter of Nov. 9th was duly received. 
I do not know that you expected or desired an answer ; but glancing 
over the contents of yours again, I am prompted to say that, while 
I desired the result of the late canvass to have been different, I 
still regard it as an exceeding small matter. I think we have fairly 
entered upon a durable struggle as to whether this nation is to 
tiltimately become all slave or all free, and though I fall early in. 
the contest, it is nothing if I shall have contributed, in the least 
degree, to the final rightful result. 

Respectfully yours, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by the family of II. D. Sharpe, Brooklyn, 

N. Y.) 

Springfield, Dec. 12, 1858. 
Alexander Sympson, Esq.: 

]\Iy Dear Sir: T expect the result of the election went hard with 
you. So it did with me, too, perhaps not quite so liard as you 
may have sui)posed. I have an abiding faith that we shall beat 
them in the long run. Step by step the objects of the leaders will 
become too plain for the people to stand them. I write merely to 
let you know that I am neither dead nor dying. Please give my 
respects to your good family, and all inquiring friends. 

Yours as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by family of Alexander Sympson, Lewistown, El.) 

A LEGAL OPINION BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

The 11th Section of the Act of Congress, approved Eeb. 11. 1805, 
prescribing rules for the subdivision of Sections of land within 



33^ 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



the United States system of Surveys, standing unrepealed, in my 
opinion, is binding on the respective purchasers of different parts 
of the same section, and furnishes the true rule for Surveyors 
in establishing lines between them — That law, being in force 
at this time each became a purchaser, becomes a condition of the 
piirchase. 

And, by that law, I think the true rule for dividing into quarters, 
any interior Section, or Sections, which is not fractional, is to run 
straight lines through the Section from the opposite quarter sec- 
tion corners, fixing the point where such straight lines cross, or 
intersect each other, as the middle or center of the Section. 

Nearly, perhaps quite, all the original surveys are to some ex- 
tent, erroneous, and in some of the Sections, greatly so. In each 
of the latter, it is obvious that a more equitable mode of division 
than the above, might be adopted ; but as error is infinitely various 
perhaps no better single rules can be prescribed. 

At all events I think the above has been prescribed by the com- 
petent authority. A. Lincoln. 

Springfield, Jany. 6, 1859. 

(Original owned by L. A. Enos, Springfield, 111.) 

Hawkins Taylor. 

Springfield, III., Sept. 6, 1859. 
Hawkins Taylor, Esq. 

"My Dear Sir: Yours of the 3d is just received. There is some 
mistake about my expected attendance of the U. S. Court in your 
city on the 3d Tuesday of this month. I have had no thought of 
being there. It is bad to be poor. I shall go to the wall for bread 
and meat, if I neglect my business this year as well as last. It 
would please me much to see the City, and good people, of Keokuk, 
but for this year it is little less than an impossibility. I am con- 
stantly receiving invitations which I am compelled to decline. I 
was pressingly urged to go to Minnesota; and I now have two 
invitations to go to Ohio. These last are prompted by Douglas 
going there; and I am really tempted to make a flying trip to 
Columbus and Cincinnati. 

I do hope you will have no serioiis trouble in Iowa. What thinks 
Grimes about it ? I have not known him to be mistaken about 
an election in Iowa. Present my respects to Col. Carter, and any 
other friends; and believe me Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original in the Collection of Hist. Dept. of Iowa. Loaned by 
the Hon. Chas. Aldrich, Des Moines, Iowa.) 

March 10, 18G0. 

As to your kind wishes for myself, allow me to say I cannot enter 
the ring on the money basis — first, because in the main it ii 



APPENDIX 



337 



wrong ; and secondly, I have not and cannot get the money. I say 
in the main the use of money is wrong; but for certain ohjcx-ts in 
a political contest, the use of some, is both right, antl indispensa- 
ble. With me, as with yourself, this long struggle lias been one of 
great pecuniary loss. 1 now distinctly say this — If you shall be 
appointed a delegate to Chicago, I will furnish one hundred dollars 
to bear the expenses of the trip. 

Present my respects to Genl. Lane; and say to him, I shall be 
pleased to hear from him at any time. 

Your friend, as ever, 

A. LixcoLX. 

(Extract from letter to Kansas delegate. Original in possession 
of J. W. Weik, Greeucastle, Ind.) 

Hawkins Taylor. 

Springfield, III., April 21, ISGO. 
Hawkins Taylor, Esq. 

My Dear Sir: Yours of the ISth is just received. It surprises 
me that you have written twice, without receiving an answer. I 
have answered all I ever reeeived from you; and certainly one 
since my return from the East. 

Opinions here, as to the prospect of Douglas being nominated, 
are quite conflicting — some very confident l;e ivill, and others that 
he will not be — I think his nomination possible; but that the 
chances are against him. 

I am glad there is a prospect of your party passing this way 
to Chicago. Wishing to make your visit here as pleasant as we 
can, we wish you to notify us as soon as possible, whether you 
come this way, how many, and when you will arrive. 

Yours very truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original in the Collection of Hist. Dept. of Iowa. Loaned by 
the Hon. Chas. Aldrich, Des Moines, Iowa. » 

Hon. C. B. Smith. 

Springfield, III., May 26, 1860. 
Hon. C. B. Smith — 

My Dear Sir: Yours of the 21st, was duly received; but I have 
found no time until now, to say a word in the way of answer. I 
am, indeed, much indebted to Indiana; and, as my home friends 
tell me, much to you personally. Your saying you no longer con- 
sider la. a doubtful state is very gratifying. The thing starts 
well everywhere — too well, I almost fear, to last. But we are in, 
and stick or go through, must be the word. 

Let me hear from Indiana occasionally. 

Your friend, as ever. 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Werter G. Betty, Norwood, Ohio.) 

(22) 



^.Q 1.1FE OF LINCOLN 

Springfield, III., June 4, 1860. 
Hon. George Ashmun : 

My De.\r Sir: It seems as if the question whether my first 
name is " Abraham " or " Abram " will never be settled. It is 
" Abraham," and if the letter of acceptance is not yet in print, you 
may, if you think fit, have my signature thereto printed " Abraham 
Lincoln." Exercise your judgment about this. Yours as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(From "Springfield, Mass., 183G-1886," by Mason A. Green.) 

W. B. Miner. 

Springfield, III., Aug. 11, 1860. 
W. B. Miner, Esq. 

Dear Sir : Yours of the 7th with newspaper slip attached is re- 
ceived; and for which 1 thank yuu. Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Hist. Dept. of Iowa. Loaned by the Hon. 
Charles Aldrich, curator, Des Moines, Iowa.) 



Hon. John 



Pi'ivate 

Springfield, III. Aug. 31, 1860 
Hon. John , 

My dear Sir: Yours of the 27th is duly received — • It consists 
almost exclusively of a historical detail of some local troubles, 
among some of our friends in Pennsylvania; and I suppose its 
object is to guard me against forming a prejudice against Mr. Mc- 

C . I have not heard near so much upon that subject as you 

probably suppose; and I am slow to listen to criminations among 
friends, and never expose their quarrels on either side — My sin- 
cere wish is that both sides will allow by-gones to be by-gones, and 
look to the present and future only. 

Yours very truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Chas. Roberts, Esq., Philadelphia, Pa.) 

Hon. N. Sargent. 

Springfield, III., Sept. 20, 1860. 

My Dear Sir : Your kind letter of the 16th was received yes- 
terday; have just time to acknowledge its receipt, and to say I 
thank you for it ; and that I shall be pleased to hear from you 
again whenever it is convenient for you to write. 

Yours very truly, 

A. Lincoln. 
(Original owned bv C. F. Gunther, Chicago, 111.) 



APPENDIX 339 

Wm. Herndon. 

Springfield, III., October 10, 1860. 

Dear William: I cannot give you details, but it is entirely cer- 
tain that Pennsylvania and Indiana have gone Ivepublican very 
largely. Pennsylvania 25,000, and Indiana 5,000 to 10,000. Ohio 
of course is safe. Youi's as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 
(From Herndon's " Life of Lincoln." Permission of Jesse Weik.) 

(Private and Confidential.) 

Major David Hunter, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. 

Springfield, Illinois, October 26, 1860. 
Major David Hunter: 

My Dear Sir: Your very kind letter of the 20th was duly re- 
ceived, for which please accept my thanks. I have another letter, 
from a writer unknown to me, saying the officers of the army at 
Fort Kearny have determined, in case of Kepublican success at the 
approaching presidential election, to take themselves, and the arms 
at that point, South, for the purpose of resistance to the govern- 
ment. While I think there are many chances to one that this is a 
humbug, it occurs to me that anj^ real movement of this sort in 
the army would leak out and become known to ycu. In such case, 
if it would not be unprofessional or dishonorable (of which you are 
to be judge), I shall be much obliged if you will apprise me of it. 

Yours very truly, A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by War Records Commission.) 

(Confidential.) 

Major David Hunter. 

Springfield, Illinois, December 22, 1860. 
Major David Hunter: 

My Dear Sir: I am much obliged by the receipt of yours of 
the 18th. The most we can do now is to watch events, and be as well 
prepared as possible for any turn things may take. If the forts 
fall, my judgment is that they arc to be retaken. When I shall de- 
termine definitely my time of starting to Washington, I will notify 
you. Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by War Records Commission.) 

Hon. I. N. Morris. Quincy, Bl. 
Confidential. 

Springfield, III., Dec. 24, 1860. 
Hon. I. ]Sr. Morris. 

My Dear Sir: Without supposing that you and I arc any Jicarer 



340 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

together, i^olitically than heretofore, allow me to tender you my 
sincere thanks for your Union resolution, expressive of views 
upon which we never were, and, I trust, never will be at variance. 

Yours very truly, A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Thomas L. Morris, Quincey, 111.) 



Hon. Postmaster-General, Washington, D. C. 

Executive Mansion, March 12, 1861. 

Hon. Post-Master General, 

My Dear Sir: I understand that the outgoing and incoming 
Representatives for the Cleveland District, unite in recommending 
Edwin Cowles for P. M. in that City; that Senator Wade has con- 
sidered the case and declines to interfere; and that no other M. C. 
interferes. Under these circumstances, if correct, I think Mr. 
Cowles better be appointed. 

Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Hist. Dept. of Iowa. Loaned by the Hon. 
Charles Aldrich, curator, Des Moines, Iowa.) 



Executive Mansion, March 13, 1861. 
Hon. p. M. G. 

Dear Sir: The bearer of this, Mr. C. T. Hempstow, is a Vir- 
ginian who wishes to get, for his son, a small place in your Dept. 
I think Virginia should bo hoard, in such cases. 

Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Hist. Dept. of Iowa. Loaned by the Hon. 
Charles Aldrich, curator, Des Moines, Iowa.) 



Washington, March 30, 1861. 
Dear Stuart: 

Cousin Lizzie shows me your letter of the 27th. The question of 
giving her the Springfield Post-office troubles me. You see I have 
already api>oint('d William Jayue a territorial governor and Judge 
'Jrumbull's brother to a land-otiice — Will it do fur me to go on and 
justify the declaration that Trumbull and 1 have divided out all 
the offices among our relatives? Dr. Wallace you know, is needy, 
and looks to me; and I personally owe him much. — 

1 see by the papers, a vote is to be taken as to the Post-office. 
Could you not set up Lizzie and beat them all? She, being here, 



APPENDIX 341 

need know nothing of it, so therefore there would be no indelicacj. 
on her part. — 

Yours, as ever, 

A, Lincoln. 
(Original owned by Mr. Stuart Brown, Springfield, 111.) 

The originals of the telegrams and letters which follow are in the 
collection of telegrams sent by the War Department during the 
Civil War, unless otherwise noted. A few of them appear in the 
official War Records, but none of them are to be found in the Com- 
plete Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Nicolay and Hay, and 
the most of them have never before been printed. The telegrams 
have been compared with the originals by the Record and Pension 
Oface. 

Washington, May 22, 1861. 

Governor E. D. Morgan, Albany, N. Y. : 

I wish to see you face to face to clear these difficulties about for- 
warding troops from New York. 

A. Lincoln. 

Washington, May 27, 1861. 
Col. W. a. Bartlett, New York : 

The Naval Brigade was to go to Fort Monroe without trouble to 
the Government, and must so go or not at all. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, June 13, 1861. 
Hon. Secretary of War. 

My Dear Sir : There is, it seems, a regiment in Massachusetts 
commanded by Fletcher Webster, and which Hon. Daniel Web- 
ster's old friends very much wish to get into the service. If it 
can be received with the approval of your Department and the 
consent of the Governor of Massachusetts I shall indeed be much 
gratified. Give Mr. AshiTian a chance to explain fully. 

Yours, truly, 

A. Lincoln. 
(From War Records, Vol. I., Series III.) 

Executive Mansion, June 13, 1861. 
Hon. Secretary of War. 

My Dear Sir : _ I think it is entirely safe to accept a fifth regi- 
ment from Michigan, and with your approbation I should say"' a 
regiment presented by Col. T. B. W. Stockton, ready for service 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 

within two weeks from now, will be receiverl. Look at Colone\ 
JStuckton's testimonials. Yours, truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(From War Records, Vol. I., Series III.) 

ExECUin'E Mansion, June 17, 1861. 

Hon. Secretary of War. 

My Dear Sir : With your concurrence, and that of the Governor 
of Indiana I am in favor of accepting- into what we call tlie three 
years' service any number not exceeding four additional reg-i- 
ments from that State. I'robably they should come from the tri- 
angular region between the Ohio and Wabash Rivers, including 
my own old boyhood home. Please see Hon. C. M. Allen, Speaker 
of the Indiana House of Representatives, and unless you perceive 
good reasons to the contrary, draw up an order for him according 
to the above. Yours, truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(From War Records, Vol. I., Series III.) 



Executive Mansion, «Tune 17, 1861. 
H»iN. Secretary of War. 

1\i\ Dear Sir: With your concurrence, and that of the Gov- 
ernor of Ohio, I am in favor of receiving inio what \ve call the 
three years' service any number not exceeding six additional regi- 
ments from that State, unless you perceive good reasons to the 
contrary. Please see Hon. John A. Gurlcy, who boars this, and 
tnake an order corresponding with the above. 

Yours, truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(From War Records, Vol. I., Series III.) 



New York, June 17, 1861. 
His Excellency the President. 

Di:ar Sir: The Hon. Robert Dale Owen is authorized to pre- 
sent for your consideration our cavalry regiment being now raised 
upon the border. It will l>e composed of the best material both 
in men and horses. Mr. Owen will present to you the peculiar 
claims and condition of the border, differing from the border of 
any other State. I trust Yom* Excellency may find it consistent 
with your views and the public interest to accept of this regiment. 

Very regpectfully, 

O. P. Morton. 



APPENDIX o,'. 

O-rO 

(Indorsement.) 

June 22, 1861. 

If agreeable to the Secretary of War, I approve the receiving one 
of the regiments ah-eady acceiJted from Indiana, organized and 
equipped as a cavahy regiment. A. Lincoln, 

(From War liecords. Vol. I., Series III.) 



ExECUTix E Mansion, June 29, ISOl. 

Gentlemen of the Kentucky Delegation who arc for the Union: 

I somewhat wish to authorize my IViend, Jesse Bayles, to raise 
a Kentucky regiment, but I do not wish to do it without your con- 
sent. If you consent, please write so at the bottom of this. 

Yours, truly, 

A. Lincoln. 
We consent. 

E. Mallory. 
H. Grider. 

G. W. DUNLAP. 

J. S. Jackson. 

C. A. WiCKLIFFE. 

August 5, 18G1. 

I repeat, I would like for Col. Bayles to raise a regiment of eav 
airy whenever the Union men of Kentucky desire or consent to it. 

A. Lincoln. 
(From War Kecords, Vol. I., Series III.) 



Secretary ot 'nterior, Washington, D. C 

Executive Mansion, July 6, 1861. 
Hon. Si:c. of Interior, 

My Dear Sn? : Please ask the Comr. of Indian Affairs, and of the 
Gen'l Land Office to come with you. and see me at once. I want 
the assistance of all of you in overhauling the list of appoint- 
ments a little before I send them to the Senate. 

Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Werter G. Betty, Norwood, ObJOc> 

Washington, D. C, July 24, 1861. 

The Governor of New Jersey. 

Sir: Together with the regiments of three years' volunteers 
which the Government already has in service in your State, enough 
to make eight in all, if tendercnl in a reasonable time, will be 
accepted, the new regiments to be taken as far as convenient, from 



344 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



the three months' men and officers just discharged, and to be or- 
ganized, equipped, and sent forward as fast as single regiments 
are ready, on the same terms as were those already in the service 
from that State. Your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Indorsement.) 

This order is entered in the War Department, and the Governor 
of New Jersey is authorized to furnish the regiments with wagons 
and horses. S. Cameron, 

Secretary of War. 

(From War Records, Vol. I., Series III.) 



Hon. James Pollock. 

Washington, Aug. 15, 1861. 
Hon. James Pollock, 

My Dear Sir: You must make a job for the bearer of this — 
make a job of it with the colisctor and have it done. You can do 
it for me and you must. Yours as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Chas. Roberts, Esq., Philadelphia, Pa.) 



Executive Mansion, October 4, 1861. 

Honorable Secretary of State. 

My Dear Sir: Please see Mr. Walker, well vouched as a Union 
man and son-in-law of Governor ]\Iorehead, and pleading for his 
release. I understand the Kentucky arrests were not made by spe- 
cial direction from here and I am willing if you are that any of 
the parties may be released when James Guthrie and James Speed 
think they should be. Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(From War Records, Vol. IL, Series III.) 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, Dec. 31, 1861. 
Major-General Hunter : 

Dear Sir: Yours of the 23d is received, and I am constrained 
to say it is difficult to answer so ugly a letter in good temper. I 
am, as you intimate, losing much of the great confidence I placed 
in you, not from any act or omission of yours touching the public 
service, up to the time you were sent to Leavenworth, but from the 
flood of grumbling despatches and letters I have seen from you 
since. I knew you were being ordered to Leavenworth at the time 
it was done; and I aver that with as tender a regard for your honor 



APPENDIX 345 

and your sensibilities as I had for my own, it never occurred to 
me that you were being "humiliated, insulted and disgraced;" 
nor have I, up to this day, heard an intimation that you liave been 
wronged, coming from any one but yourself — No one has blamed 
you for the retrograde movement from Springfield, nor for the in- 
formation you gave General Cameron; and this you could readily 
understand, if it were not for your unwarranted assumption that 
the ordering you to Leavenworth must necessarily have been done 
as a punishment for some fault. I thought then, and think yet, the 
position assigned to you is as responsible, and as honorable, as that 
assigned to Buell — I know that General McClellan expected more 
important results from it. My impression is that at the time you 
were assigned to the new Western Department, it had not been 
determined to replace General Sherman in Kentucky; but of this 
I am not certain, because the idea that a command in Kentucky 
was very desirable, and one in the farther West undesirable, had 
never occurred to me — You constantly speak of being placed in 
command of only 3,000 — Now tell me, is this not mere impatience ? 
Have you not known all the while that you are to command four 
or five times that many ? 

I have been, and am sincerely your friend ; and if, as such, I dare 
to make a suggestion, I would say you are adopting the best possi- 
ble way to ruin yourself. " Act well your part, there all the honor 
lies." He who does something at the head of one Eegiment, will 
eclipse him who does nothing at the head of a hundred. 

Your friend, as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

On the outside of the envelope in which this letter was found. 
General Plunter had written : 

The President's reply to my " ugly letter." This lay on his table 
a month after it was written, and when finally sent was by a special 
conveyance, with the direction that it was only to be. given to me 
when I was in a good humor. 

(Original owned by War Secords Commission.) 

Department of State, WAsniyoTON. 

January 20, 1S62. 

Major-General George B. McClellan, Commanding Armies of 
the United States: 

You or any officer you may designate will in your discretion sus- 
pend the writ of habeas corpus so far as may relate to i\rajor Chase, 
lately of the Engineer Corps of the Army of the United States, 
now alleged to be guilty of treasonable practices against this 
Government. Abraham Lincoln, 

Bj" the President, 

William H. Sew^\rd. 

(From War Records, Vol. II., Seriesi III.) 



346 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Washington^ April 3, 1862. 

Major-General Halleck^ Saint Louis, Mo. : 

Your dispatch in regard to Colonel Barrett's regiment is re- 
ceived. Use your own judgment in the matter. A. Lincoln. 

Please send above by order of the President. John I1a\;, 

Secretary. 

Executive IIansion, 
Washington, April d, 1862. 

Major-General Halleck, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

If the rigor of the confinement of Magoffin at Alton is endanger- 
ing his life, or materially impairing his health, I wish it mitigated 
as far as it can be consistently with his safe detention. 

A. Lincoln. 

Please send above by order of the President. John Hay. 

Postmaster Greneral, Washington, D. C. 

Executive Mansion, Washington, April 24, 1862. 

Hon. Postmaster General. 

My Dear Sir: The Member of Congress from the District in- 
cluding Tiffin, O., calls on me about the Post-]\Iaster at that place. 
I believe I turned over a despatch to you from some persons there, 
asking a suspension, so as for them to be lieard, or something of 
the sort. If nothing, or nothing amounting to auything, has been 
done, T think the suspension might now be suspoudod, and the 
commission go forward. Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Hist. Dept. of Iowa. Loaned by Hon. Chas. 
Aldrich, curator, Des Moines, Iowa.) 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, April 29, 1862. 
Major-General McClellan : 

Would it derange or embarrass your operations if I were to 
appoint Captain Charles Griffin, a brigadier-general of volun- 
teers? Please answer. A. Lincoln. 

SPEECH TO THE 12TII INDIANA REGniENT. 

Soldiers of the Twelfth Indiana Regiment: It has not been 
customary heretofore, nor will it be hereafter, for me to say some- 
thing to every regiment passing in review. It occurs too frequently 
for me to have speeches read;y on all occasions \.s you have paid 



APPENDIX 



347 



such a mark of respect to the Chief Magistrate, it appears that I 
should say a word or two in reply. 

Your Colonel has thought fit, on his own account and in your 
. name, to say that you are satisfied with the manner in which I 
have performed my part in the difficulties which have surrounded 
the nation. For your kind expressions I am extremely grateful, 
but, on the other hand, I assure you that the nation is more in- 
debted to you, and such as you, than to me. It is upon the brave 
hearts and strong arms of the people of the country that our re- 
liance has been placed in support of free government and free 
institutions. 

For the part which you and the brave army of which you ara 
a part have, under Providence, performed in this great struggle, 
I tender more thanks — greatest thanks that can be possibly due — 
and especially to this regiment, which has been the subject of 
good report. The thanks of the nation will follow you, and may 
God's blessing rest upon you now and forever. I hope that upon 
your return to your homes you will find your friends and loved 
ones well and happy. I bid you farewell. 

(From New York " Evening Post," May 15, 1802.) 



(Cjpher) War DFPARTAtENT, 

Washington City, D. C, June 5, 1862—9 1-2 p. m. 

Major-General Halleck : 

T have received the following dispatch from General McClellan 
which I transmit for your consideration. A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) War Department, 

Washington^ D. C, June 7, 1862. 
Major-General McClellan: 

Your dispatch about Chattanooga and Dalton was duly received 
and sent to General Ilalleck. T have just received the following 
answer from him. We have Fort Pillow, Randolph and Memphis. 

A. Lincoln. 

War DEPART^rENT, 
Washington, D. C, June 28, 1862. 

Governor O. P. Morton, Indianapolis, Ind.: 

Your dispatch of to-day is just received. I have no recollection 
of either John R. Cravens, or Cyrus M. Allen, having boon named 
to me for appointment under the tax law. The latter particularly 
has been my friend, and I am sorry to learn that he is not yours. 
No appointment has been or will be made by me for the purpose 
of stabbing you- A. Lincoln, 



'> 



48 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 

War Df.parthlent, 
Washington Citv, D. C, July 3, 18C2. 



Major GrNrRAL Dix, Fort Monroe: 
What news if any have you from Genei-al Bmnside ? 

A. Lincoln. 

War Depautj*[f.nt, 
Washington, D. C, July 28, 1862. 

Governors of all Loyal States: 

It would be of great service here for us to know, as fully as you 
can tell, what progress is made and making in recruiting for old 
regiments in your State. Also about what day the first regiment 
can move with you, what the second, what the third and so on? 
This information is important to us in making calculations. Please 
give it as promptly and accurately as you can. A. Lincoln. 

War Departmeni, 
Washington, D. C, August 12, 1862. 

Governor Curtin, Harrisburg, Penn. : 

It is very important for some regiments to arrive here at once. 
What lack you from us? What can w'e do to expedite matters? 
Answer. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C., August 14, 1862. 

Officer in charge of Confederate prisoners at Camp Chase, Ohio : 

It is believed that a Dr. J. J. Williams is a prisoner in your 
charge, and if so tell him his wife is here and allow him to tele- 
graph to her. A. Lincoln. 

ExECUTn^E !M'ansion, 
Washington, August 15, 1862. 

Hon. James Dixon, Hartford, Conn.: 
Come here. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, August 15, 1862. 

Officer having prisoners in charge at Camp Douglass, near Chi- 
cago, 111.: 

Is there a prisoner Dr. Josepli J. Williams? and if so tell him hia 
«fe le here ^v\d allow him to telegraph her. A, Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 349 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, August 16, 1862. 

Hon. Hiram Barney, New York: 

Mrs. L. has $1,000 for the benefit of the hospitals and she will 
be obliged, and send the pay if you will be so good as to select 
and send her $200 worth of good lemons and $100 wortli of good 
oranges. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, August 18, 1862. 
S. B. Moody, Springfield, HI.: 

Which do you prefer commissary or quartermaster ? If appointed 
it must be without conditions. A. Lincoln. 

Operator please send above for President. John Hay. 



War DEPARTisiENr, 
Washington, D. C, August 20, 1862. 

Governor Andrew, Boston, Mass.: 

Neither the Secretary of War nor 1 know anything except what 
you tell us about the " published ofiicial document " you mention. 

A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, August 21, 1862. 

Mrs. Margaret Preston, Lexington, Ky. : 

Yoxir dispatch to Mrs. L. received yesterday. She is not well. 
Owing to her early and strong friendship for you, I would gladly 
oblige you, but I cannot absolutely do it. If General Boyle and 
Hon. -Tames Guthrie, one or both, in their discretion, see fit to 
give you the passes, this is my authority to them for doing so. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive l\fANST0N, 
Washington, D. C., August 21, 1862. 

Gillet E. Watson, Williamsburg, Va.: 

Your telegram in regard to the lunatic asylum has been re- 
ceived. It is certainly a case of difficulty, but if you cannot re- 
main, I cannot conceive who imder my authority can. Remain as 
long as you safely can, and provide as well as you can for the 
poor inmates of the institution. 

A. Lincoln. 



350 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

August 27, 1862 — 4.30 p. m. 

Major-General BuRNsiDE, Falmouth, Va.: 
Do you hear anything from Pope ? A. Lincoln. 

August 28, 1862—2.40 p. m. 

Major-General BuRNsroE, Falmouth, Va.: 
Any news from General Pope? A. Lincoln. 

August 28, 1862—2.40 p. m. 
Colonel Haupt, Alexandria, Va. : 

Yours received. How do you learn that the rebel forces at 
Manassas are large and commanded by several of their best gen- 
erals ? A. Lincoln. 

War Departafent, 
Washington, D. C, August 29, 1862—2.30 p. m. 

Major-General Burnside, Falmouth, Va. : 

Any further news? Does Colonel Devin mean that sound of 
firing was heard in direction of Warrenton as stated, or in direc- 
tion of Warrenton Junction? A. Lincoln. 

W\R Department, 
Washington, D. C, August 30, 1862—10.20 a. m. 

Colonel Haupt, Alexandria, Va.: 
What news? A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
August 30, 1862—3.50 p. m. 

Colonel Haupt, Alexandria, Va. : 

Please send me the latest news. A. Lincoln. 

August 30, 1862—8.35 p. m. 

Major-General Banks, Manassas Junction, Va. : 

Please tell me what news. A. Lincoln. 

Washington, D. C, September 17, 1862. 

Governor 0. P. Morton, Indianapolis, Lid.: 

I have received your dispatch in regard to recommendations of 
General Wright. T have received no such dispatch from him, at 
least not that I can remember. I refer yours for General TTal- 
leck's consideration. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 35r 

Telegraph office please transmit as above and oblige the Presi. 
dent. John Hay. 



Executive Mansion, Washington, September 18, 1862. 

Honorable Secretary of War. 

Sir : The attached paper is said to contain a list of civilians im- 
prisoned at Salisbury, N. C. Please preserve it. 

Yours, truly, 

A. Lincoln. 
(From War Records, Vol. IV., Series III.) 



Executive Mansion, 
Washinoton, September 20, 1862. 

General Ketchum, Springfield, 111.: 

How many regiments ai-e there in Illinois, ready for service 
but for the want of arms'^ Plow many arms have you tlieiv ready 
for distribution? 

A. Lincoln. 



McClellan's Headquarters, October 3, 1862. 

Major-General Halleck. 

General Stuart, of the rebel army, has sent in a few of our 
prisoners under a flag of truce, paroled with terms to prevent 
their fighting the Indians, and evidently seeking to commit us 
to their right to parole our prisoners in that way. My inclina- 
tion is to send the prisoners back with a distinct notice that we 
will recognize no paroles given to our prisoners by i-ebels as ex' 
tending beyond the prohibition against fighting them, yet I wish 
your opinion upon it based both upon the general law and our 
cartel. I wish to avoid violations of law and bad faith. Answer as 
quickly as possible, as the thing if done at all should be done at 
once. A. Lincoln, 

President. 

(From War Records, Vol. IV., Series III.) 



Executive IFansion, 
Washington, October 7, 1862. 

Major-General McClellan, Headquarters Army of the Potomac: 

You wisli to see your family and T wish to obliye vou. It iiiiylit 
be left to your own discretion, certainly su, if Mrs. ^1. could meet 
you here at Washington. A. Lincoln. 



352 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Man«;io\, 
Washington, October 9, 1862. 

Morton McMichael, Office "North American," Philadelphia, Pa.: 
The letter alluded to in your dispatch of yesterday has not been 
received. A. Lincoln. 

Operator please send above and oblige. A. L. 

Washington, D. C, October 12, 1862. 

Majoh-General Curtis, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

Would the completion of the railroad some distance further in 
the direction of Springfield, Mo., be of any military advantage to 
you? Please answer. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington City, D. C, October 16, 1862. 

Governor Pierpoint, Wheeling, Va. : 

Your dispatch of to-day received. I am very sorry to have of- 
fended you. I appointed the collector as I thought, on your writ- 
ten recommendation, and the assessor also with your testimony of 
worthiness, although I know you preferred a different man. I 
will examine to-morrow whether I am mistaken in this. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, October 21, 1862. 

General Jameson, Upper Stillwater, Me.: 

How is your health now ? Do you or not wish Lieut. R. P. Craw- 
ford to be restored to his office? A. Lincoln. 

Executfv'e Mansion, 
Washington, October 23, 1862. 

Hon. F. II. PiERroivT, Wheeling, Va. : 

Your letter of the l7th just received. When you come to Wash- 
ington, T shall be jjleascd to show you the record upon which we 
acted. In evcrtheloss answer this, distinctly saying 3'ou wish Ross 
and Ri teller, or any other two you do really want and they shall be 
appointed. A. Lincoln, 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, October 23, 1862. 
Ben. Field, Esq., Astor House: 

Your letter of 20th received. Think your request cannot safely 
be granted. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX .C2 

Executive Mansion-, 
Washington, October 20, 1862. 
Major-General McClellan : 

Your dispatches of night before last, yesterday, and last nij^ht 
all received. 1 am much pleased with the movement of the army. 
When you get entirely across the river let me know. What do you 
know of the enemy? A. Lincoln. 

ExECUXrV'E IfANSION, 

Washington, October 30, 1362. 
Governor Curtin, Harrisburg: 

By some means I have not seen your dispatch of the 27th about 
Order No. 154, till this moment. I now learn what I knew nothing 
of before, that the history of the order is as follows, to-wit: Gen- 
eral McClellan telegraphed asking General llalleck to have the 
order made. General Halleck went to the Secretary of War with, 
it, stating his approval of the plan. The Secretary assented and 
General Halleck wrote the order. It was a military question which 
the Secretary supposed the generals understood better than he. 
I wish I could see Governor Curtin. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 5, 1862. 

Hon. M. F. Odell, Brooklyn, N. Y.: 

You are re-elected. I wish to see you at once. Will you come? 
Please answer. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 7, 1862. 

Col. W. W. Lowe, Eort Henry, Tenn.: 

Yoiu's of yesterday received. Governor Johnson, Mr. Ethridge 
and others are looking after the very thing you telegraph about. 

A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) War Department, 

Washington City, T). C, November 14, 1862. 

Hon. F. p. Blair, Jr., Saint Louis. Mo.: 

Please telegraph me the result of the election in Missouri on 
Congress and Legislature. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, November 17, 1862. 

Robert A. Maxwell, Philadelphia, Pa.: 

Your dispatch of to-day received. I do not at all understand it. 

A. Lincoln. 
(23) 



354 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 26, 1862- 

Hon. George Robertson, Lexington, Ky. : 
I mail you a short letter to-day. A. Lincoln. 



(Cypher) Washington, November 30, 1862. 

jVIa.tor-Genfhal Curtis, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

Frank Blair wants Manter's Thirty-second, Curly 's Twenty- 
seventh, Boyd's Twenty-fourth and the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry 
to go with him down the river. I understand it is with you to 
decide whether he shall have them and if so, and if also it is con- 
sistent with the piablic service you will oblige me a good deal 
by letting him have them. A. Lincoln. 

Judge Advocate General, Washington, D. C 

Executive Mansion, Washington, Dec. 1, 1862. 

Judge Advocate General. 

Sir: Three hundred Indians have been sentenced to death in 
Minnesota by a Military Connnissiou, and oxocution only awaits 
my action. I wish your legal opinion whether if I should con- 
clude to execute only a part of them, I must myself designate which, 
or could I leave the designation to some officer on the ground? 

Yours very truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original in Archives of Treasury Dept. Loaned by M. E. Ailes, 
Washington, D. C.) 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 7, 1862. 

Hon. H. J. Kavmonp. Times Office, New York: 

Yours of November 25, reached me only yesterday. Thank you for 
it. I shall consider and remember your suggestions. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 7, 1862. 

Hon. B. Gratz Brown, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

Yours of the 3d received yesterday. Have already done what 
I can in the premises. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 355 

EXECUTIVF MaN>'IOX. 

Washington, December 8, 18G2. 
brOVERNOR Andrew Johnson, Nashville, Tenn. : 

Jesse II. Strickland is here askiiif^- authority to raise a ref-imoiit 
of Tennesseeans. Would you advise that the authority be given 
him? A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, Dec. 10, 1862. 
Hon. J. K. Dubois : 

My Dear Sir : In the sunnner of 1859 when Mr. Freeman visited 
Spring-field, Illinois, in relation to the McCallister & Stebbin'a 
bonds I promised him that, upon certain conditions, I would ask the 
members of the Legislature to give him a full and fair hearing of 
his case. I do not now remember, nor have I time to recall, exactly 
what the conditions were, nor whether they were completely per- 
formed; but there can be, in no case, any harm in his having a full 
and fair hearing, and I sincerely wish it may be given him. 

Yours truly, A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by the Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, 
Hlinois.) 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 14, 1862. 

Major-General Curtis, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

If my friend Dr. William Fithian, of Danville, 111., should call on 
you, please give him such facilities as you consistently can about 
recovering the remains of a step-son and matters connected there- 
with. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 14, 1862. 

Hon. Simon Cameron, Harrisburg, Pa.: 

Please come to Washington so soon as you conveniently can. 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department. 
John G. Nicola y. Headquarters: 
What nev/s have you ? A. Lincoln. 

Executfve Mansion, 
Washington, December 16, 1862. 

Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley, Saint Paul, Minn.: 

As you suggest let the executions fixed for Friday the 19th in* 
stant, be postponed to, and be done on Friday the 2(''th instant. 

A. Lincoln. 



356 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Private. 
Operator please send this very carefully and accurately. 

A.L. 



ExECUTrv'E Mansion, 
Washington, December 16, 1862. 

Major-General Curtis, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

N. W. Watkins, of Jackson, Mo., (who is half brother to Henry 
Chiy) writes me that a colonel of ours has driven him from his 
home at Jackson. Will you please look into the case and restore 
the old man to his home if the public interest will admit ? 

A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington City, D. C, December 16, 1862. 

Major-General Burnside, Falmouth: 

Your dispatch about General Stahel is received. Please ascer- 
tain from General Sigel and his old cor])s whether Stahel or Schurz 
is preferable and telegrajjh the result and I will act immediately. 
After all I shall be governed by your preference. A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
December 17, 1862. 

Abraham C. Corsey, of Seventh Illinois Volunteers, Grand Junc- 
tion, Miss. : 
Your dispatch of yesterday received. Not now. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executh-e Mansion, 
Wasiiinotox, December 17, 1862. 
Major-General Curtis : 

Could the civil authority be reintroduced into Missouri in lieu 
of the military to any extent, with advantage and safety ? 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 17, 1862. 
Ma jor-Gexeral Burnside : 

George Patten says he was a class-mate of yours and was in the 
same regiment of artillery. Have you a place you would like to 
put him in? and if so what is it? A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX ,-- 

3:>7 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 18, 1862. 

Governor Gamble, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

It is represented to me that the enrolled militia alone would now 
maintain law and order in all the counties of your State north 
of the Missouri River. If so all other forces there might be re- 
moved south of the river, or out of the State. Please post your- 
self and give me your opinion upon the subject. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 19, 1862. 

Major-General Curtis, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

Hon. Hall, M. C, here tells me, and Governor Gamble tel- 
egraphs me that (.juiet can be maintained in all the counties north 
of the Missouri River by the enrolled militia. Confer with Gov- 
ernor Gamble and telegraph me. A. Llvcoln. 

Washington, December 21, 1862. 
Mrs. a. Lincoln, Continental Hotel: 

Do not come on the night train. It is too cold. Come in the 
morning. A. Lincoln. 

Please send above and oblige the President. John Hay, 

A. P. S. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 27, 1862. 

Major-General Curtis, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

Let the order in regard to Dr. McPheters and family be sus- 
pended until you hear from me again. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
December 27, 1862. 
His Excellency Governor Gamble: 

I do not wish to leave the country north of the Missouri to the 
care of the enrolled militia except upon the concurrent judgment 
of yourself and General Curtis. His I have not yet obtained. 
Confer with him, and I shall be glad to act when you and lie agree. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 31, 1862. 

Major-General Dix, Fort Monroe, Va. : 

I hear not a word about the Congressional election of which you 
and I corresponded. Time nearly up. A. Lincoln. 



^qs LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Private, Executive Mansion, 

Washington^ December 31, 1862. 
Hon. H. J. Kaymond: 

The proclamation cannot be telegraphed to you until during the 
day to-morrow. Jno. G. Nicolay. 



Private. Executive Mansion, 

Washington, December 31, 1862. 
Hon. Horace Greeley: 

The pioclamation cannot be telegraphed to you until during the 
day to-morrow. Jno. G. Nicolay. 



Caleb Russell. 
Sallie A. Fenton. 

Executive Mansion, Washington, January 5, 1863. 

My Good Friends: 

The Honorable Senator Harlan has just placed in my hand3 
your letter of the 27th of December, whicli I have read with pleas- 
ure and gratitude. 

It is most cheering and encouraging for me to know that in the 
efforts which I have made and am making for the restoration of 
a righteous peace to our country, I am upheld and sustained by the 
good wishes and prayers of God's people. No one is more deeply 
than myself aware that without His favor our highest wisdom is 
but as foolishness and that our most strenuous efforts would avail 
nothing in the shadow of His displeasure. 

I am conscious of no desire for my country's welfare that is 
not in consonance with His will, and of no plan upon which we may 
not ask His blessing. It seems to me tliat if there be one sub- 
ject upon which all good men may unitedly agree, it is imploring 
the gracious favor of the God of Nations upon the struggles our 
people are making for tlio ])reservation of their precious birth- 
right of civil and religious liberty. 

Very truly your friend, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Mr. Jolm Dugdale, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.) 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C., January 7, 1863. 

'Major-General Dix, Fort Monroe, Va.: 

Do Richmond papers of 0th say nothing about Vicksburg or if 
anything, what^ A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 359 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 2:!, 1863. 
General Burnside: 

Will see you any moment when you come. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 28, 1863. 

Major-General Butler, Lowell, Mass: 

Please come here immediately. Telegraph me about what tim.e 
you will arrive. A. Lincoln. 

War Dicpartment. 
Washington City, D. C, January 29, 1863. 

Major-General Dix, Fort Monroe, Va. : 

Do Tiichmond papers have anything from Vicksburg? 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington City, D. C, January 30, 1863. 

Major-General DiX, Fort Monroe, Va. : 

What iron-clads if any have gene out of Hamilton Roads within 
the last two days? A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington City, D. C, January 31, 1863. 

Major-General Di\, Fort Monroe, Va. : 

Corcoran's and Pryor's battle terminated. Have ymi any news 
through Richmond papers or otherwise? A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington City, D. C, January 31, 1863. 

Major-General Schenck, Baltimore, ]\Id.: 

I do not take jurisdiction of the pass question. Exercise your 
own discretion as to whether Judge Pettis shall have a pass. 

A. Lincoln. 

(Cji^her) War Department, 

Washington, D. C, February 1, 1863. 

Governor O. P. Morton, Indianapolis. Ind.: 

I think it would not do for me to meet you at Harrisl)urg. It 
would be known and would be misconstrued a thousand ways. Of 
course if the whole truth could be told and accepted as trutli, it 
would do no harm, but that is impossible. A. Lincoln. 



350 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

(Cypher) 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, February 4, 1863. 

Major-General Schenck, Baltimore, Md. : 

I hear of some difficulty in the streets of Baltimore yesterday. 
What is the amount of it? A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 13, 1863. 

Hon. Simon Cameron, Harrisburg, Pa. : 

General Clay is here and I suppose the matter we spoke of will 
have to be definitely settled now. Please answer. 

A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, February 19, 1863. 

William H. Herndon, Springfield, 111. : 

Would you accept a job of about a month's duration at Saint 
Louis, $5 a day and mileage ? Answer. A. Lincoln. 



(CjTher) War Department, 

Washington, D. C, February i6, 1863. 

Hon. J. K. Dubois, Springfield, 111.: 

General Rosecrans rospectedly urges the appointment of William 
P. Caslin as a brigadier-general. What say you now? 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 27, 1863. 

Alfred Russell, Charles Dickkv, Detroit, Mich.: 

The bill you mention in your dispatch of yesterday was ap- 
proved and signed on the 24th of this month. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 27, 1863. 
Ma.ior-General Hooker : 

If it will be no detriment to the service I will be obliged for 
Capt. Honry A. Marchant, of Company I, Twenty-third Pennsyl- 
vania Volunteers, to come here and remain four or five days. 

A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX ->6i 

Executive IFaxsion, 
Washington, D. C, March 5, 1863. 

Major-Genekal Hooker, Commanding Army of the Potomac : 

For business purposes I have extended the leave of absence of 
Capt. Hein'y A. Marchant, Twenty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, 
five days, hoping' that it will not interfere with the public service. 
Please notify the regiment to-day. A. Lincoln. 

ExECUTi\'E Mansion, 
"Washington, March 9, 1863. 

Governor David Tod, Columbus, Ohio : 

I think your advice with that of others would be valuable in the 
selection of provost-marshals fur Ohio. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, March 13, 1863. 
Ma jor-General Hooker : 

General Stahel wishes to be assigned to General Heintzelman 
and General Heintzelman also desires it. I would like to oblige 
both if it would not injure the service in your army, or incommode 
you. What say you? A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, March 16, 1863. 
Hon. J, O. Morton, Joliet, HI. : 

William Chumasero is proposed for provost-marshal of your dis- 
trixjt. What think you of it ? I understand he is a good man. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, March 17, 1863. 

Major-General Rosecrans, Murfreesborough, Tenn.: 

Your telegram of yesterday just received. I write you more 
fully than T could communicate by the wires. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, March 25, 1863. 

Mr. BenjaMiJ Gratz, Lexington, Ky. : 

Show this to whom it may concern as your authority for allowing 
Mrs. Shelby to remain at your house, so long as you choose to be 
responsible for what she may do. A Lincoln. 



-52 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

ExEcuTrv'E Mansion, 
Washington^ March 25, 186b, 

Major-General Kosecrans, Murfreesborough, Teiin. : 

Your dispatches about General Davis and General Mitchell are 
received. General Davis' case is not particular, being simply one 
of a great many reconmiended and not nominated, because they 
would transcend the number allowed by law. General Mitchell 
nominated and rejected by the Senate and 1 do not think it proper 
for me to re-nominate him without a change of circumstances such 
as the performance of additional service, or an expressed change of 
purpose ou the part of at least some Senators who opposed him. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washinuton, April li, 1863. 

.Governor A, G. Curtin, Harrisburg, Pa. : 

After next Tuesday the President will be here. 

John G. Nioolay. 

Colonel Sanford: 
Please send above telegram. Yours, 

Jno. G. Nicolay. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, April 3, 1863. 
Ma.tor-Gexeral Hooker : 

Our plan is to pass Saturday night on the boat, go over from 
Acquia Creek to your camp Sunday morning, remain with you till 
Tuesday morning and then return. Our party will probably not 
exceed six persons of all sorts. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, April 11, 1863. 

Officer in Command at Nashville, Tenn. : 

Is there a soldier by the name of Jolm R. Minnick of Wynkoop'a 
cavalry under sentence of death, by a court martial or military 
commission, in Nashville? And if so what was liis offense, and 
when is he to be executed? 

A. Lincoln. 

Tf necessary let the execution be staid till I can be heard from 
Eigain. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX .A A 

Waji DkI'ARTMKNT, 

Washington Citv, April 23, 18(33. 

Hon. Simon Cameron, Harrisburg, Pa.: 

Telegraph me the name of your candidate for West Point. 

A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington City, April 23, 1863. 

Hon. S. p. Chase, Philadelphia, Pa. : 
Telegraph me the name of your candidate for West Point. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, April 29, 1863, 

Hon. W. a. Newell, Allentown, IST. J. : 

I have some trouble about provost-marshal in your first dis- 
trict. Please procure Hon. Mr. Starr to come with you and see 
me, or come to an agreement with him and telegraph me the result. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, May 4, 1863. 

Ma.ior-Generai, EtTRNSinE, Cincinnati, Ohio: 

Our frioiul Cipiioral Sigol claims that you owe him a letter. H 
you so remember jilcase write him at once. He is here. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, May 5, 1863. 

Hon. O. M. Hatch, Springfield. HI.: 

Your dispatch of March 9th recommending provost-marshals, 
reads 9th District Benj. F. Weist, Pittsfield, 111. Should it not 
be Benj. P. Westlake? Answer. Jno. G. Nicola y. 



War Department, 
Washington City, May 11, 1863. 
Ma.tor-General Dix: 

Do the Richmond papers have anything about Graud Gulf or 
Vicksburg? A. Lincoln. 



364 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

(Cypher) War Department, 

Washington City, May 11, 1863. 

Major-Genehal Butterfield: 

About what distance is it from the observatory we stopped at 
last Thursday, to the Hue of enemies works you ranged the glass 
upon for me? A. Lincoln. 

Executh'e Mansion, 
Washington, May 12, 1863. 

Governor Seymour, Albany, N. Y. : 

Dr. Swinburne and jMr. Gillett are here having been refused, 
as they say, by the War Department, permission to go to the Army 
of the Potomac. They now appeal to me saying you wish them 
to go. I suppose they have been excluded by a rule which expe- 
rience has induced the department to deem proper, still they shall 
have leave to go, if you say you desire it. Please answer. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, May 13, 1863. 

Dr. a. G. Henry, ^Metropolitan Hotel, New York: 

Governor Chase's feelings were hurt by my action in his ab- 
sence. Smith is removed, but Governor Chase wishes to name his 
successor, and asks a day or two to make the designation. 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington City, May 16, 1863. 

Hon. Jaaies Guthrie, Louisville, Ky. : 

Your dispatch of to-day is rooeived. I personally know nothing 
of Colonel Churchill, but months ago and more than once he has 
been represented to me as exerting a niiscliievous influence at 
Saint Louis, for which renson I am unwilling to force his con- 
tinuance there against the judgment of our friends on the ground, 
but if it will oblige you, he may come to, and remain at Louisville 
upon taking the oath of allegiance, and your pledge for his good 
behavior. A. Lincoln. 

Secretary of War, Washington, D. C. 

War Department, Washington City, May 16, 1863. 

Hon. Secretary of War. 

My Dear Sir : The commnnder of the Department at St. Louis 
has ordered several persons south of our military lines, which order 



APPENDIX o6c 

is not disapproved by me. Yet at the special request of ITon. James 
Guthrie I have consented to one of the number, Samuel Churchill, 
remaining at Louisville, Ky., upon condition of his taking- the 
oath of allegiance and Mr. Gutln-ie's word of honor for his good 
behavior. Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 
(Original owned by 0. P. Gunther, Chicago, 111.) 

War Department, 
Washington City, May 21, 1863. 

Major-General Burnside, Cincinnati, Ohio: 

In the case of Thomas M. Campbell, convicted as a spy, let ex- 
ecution of the sentence be respited until further order from me, 
he remaining in custody meanwhile. A. Lincoln. 

Major-General Burnside: 

Please acknowledge receipt of above telegram and time of de- 
livery. Tho. T. Eckert. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, May 22, 1803. 

General Quincy A. Gilmore, New York City: 

The President of the United States desires that you shall come 
here to see him on your way to Kentucky. 

Jno. G. Nicola y. 

Private Secretary. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, May 24, 1863—10.40 p. m. 

Anson Stager, Cleveland, Ohio: 

Late last night Puller telegraphed you, as you say, that "the 
stars and stripes float over Vicksburg and the victory is com- 
plete." Did he know what he said, or did he say it without know- 
ing it? Your dispatch of this afternoon throws doubt upon it. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive IFansion, 
Washington, May 25, 1863. 

Colonel Haggard, Nashville, Tenn.: 

Your dispatch to Green Adams had just been shovm to me. Gen- 
eral Kosecrans knows better than we can know here, who should 
be in charge of the Fifth Cavalry. A. Lincoln. 



366 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

War Departmemi, 
Washington, D. C, May 26, 1863. 

Major-General Burnside, Cincinnati, Ohio: 

Your dispatch about Campbell, Lyle and others received and 
postponement ordered by you approved. I will consider and tele- 
graph you again in a few days. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, May 27, 1863. 

Major-General Schenck, Baltimore, Md.: 

Let the execution of William B. Compton be respited or sus- 
pended till further order from me, holding him in safe custody 
meanwhile. On receiving this notify me. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion^ 
Washington, May 27, 1863. 

Governor Buckingham, Hartford, Conn. : 

The execution of Warren Whitemarch is hereby respited or sus- 
pended until further order from me, he to be held in safe custody 
meanwhile. On receiving this notify me. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, May 28, 1863. 

Hon. Erastus Corning, Albany, N. Y. : 

The letter of yourself and others dated the 19th and inclosing 
the resolutions of a public meeting held at Albany on the 16th 
was received night before last. I shall give the resolutions the 
consideration you ask, and shall try to iind time and make a re- 
spectful response. Your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) Executive Mansion, 

Washington, June 1, 1863. 
Colonel Ludlow, Fort Monroe: 

Richardson and Brown, correspondents of the Tribune captured 
at Vicksburg, are detained at Kichmond. Please ascertain why 
they are detained, and get them off if you can. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, June 2, 1863. 
Major-General Hooker : 

It is said that Philip ^fargraf, in your army, is under sentence 
to he shot on Friday the 5th instant as a deserter. If so please 
send me up the record of his case at once. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 367 

(Cypher) Executive ^Tansion, 

Washington, June 4, 1863. 
Major-General Hooker: 

Let execution of sentences in the cases of Daily, Margraff and 
Harrington, be respited till further order from nie, they remain- 
ing in close custody meanwhile. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, June 4, 1863. 

Major-General Butterfield : 

The news you send me from the Richmond Sentinel of the 3d 
must be greatly if not wholly incorrect. The Thursday mentioned 
was the 28th, and we have dispatches here directly from Vicksburg 
of the 2Sth, 29th, 30th and 31st, and while they speak of the siege 
progressing, they speak of no assault or general fighting what- 
ever, and in fact they so speak as to almost exclude the idea that 
there can have been any since Monday the 25th, which was not 
very heavy. Neither do they mention any demand made by Grant 
upon Pemberton for a surrender. They speak of our troops as 
being in good health, condition and spirits. Some of them do say 
that Banks has Port Pludson invested. A. Lincoln. 

Washington, D. C, June 5, 1863. 
Major-General Hooker: 

Would you like to have Capt. Treadwell Moore, now in Cali- 
fornia, to report to you for duty? A. Lincoln. 

Washington, D. C, June 6, 1863. 

Mrs. Elizabeth J. Grimsley, Springfield, 111.: 

Is your John ready to enter the Naval school ? If he is tele- 
graph me his full name. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, June 6, 1863. 

Major-General Dix, Fort Monroe, Va.: 

By noticing the news you send from the Richmond Dispatch 
of this morning you will see one of the very latest dispntches snys 
they have nothing reliable fi-om Vicksburg since Siniday. Now 
we here have a dispatch from there of Sunday niid others of almost 
jvery day preceding since the investment, and while thoy show 
the siege progressing they do not show any general fighting since 
the 21st and 22d. We have nothing from Port Hudson later than 
the 29th when things looked reasonably well for us. I have thought 
this might be of some interest to you. A. Lincoln. 



^o8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, Jvme 8, 1863. 
Major-General Dix, Fort Monroe : 

We have dispatches from Vicksburg of the 3d. Siege progress- 
ing. No general fighting recently. All well. Nothing new from 
Port Hudson. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, June 8, 1863. 

Major-General Dix, Fort Monroe ; 

The substance of the news sent of fight at Fort Hudson on the 
27th we have had here three or four days, and I supposed you 
had it also, when I said this morning, " No news from Port Hud- 
son." We taiew that General Sherman was wounded, but we 
hoped not so dangerously as your dispatch represents. We still 
have nothing of that Richmond newspaper story of Kirby Smith 
crossing and of Banks losing an arm. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, June 9, 1863. 

Hon. John P. Hale, Dover, N. H.: 

I believe that it was upon your recommendation that B. B. 
Bunker was appointed attorney for Nevada Territory. I am 
pressed to remove him on the ground that he does not attend to 
the office, nor in fact pass much time in the Territory. Do you 
wish to say anything on the subject? A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, June 9, 1863. 
Mrs. Lincoln, Philadelphia, Pa.: 

Think you had better put " Tad's '' pistol away. I had an ugly 
dream about him. A. Lincoln. 

Washington, D. C, June 9, 1863. 
Major-General Hooker : 

I am told there are 50 incendiary shells here at the arsenal 
made to fit the 100-i)ounder Parrott gun now with you. If this be 
true would you like to have the shells sent to you? 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, June 11, 1863. 
Mrs. Lincoln, Philadelphia: 

Your three dispatches received. I am very well and am glad 
to know that you and " Tad " are so. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 



369 



(Cypher) Executive Mansion, 

Washington, June 12, 18G3. 
Major-General Hooker: 

If you can show me a trial of the Incendiary shells on Saturda.v 
night I will try to join you at 5 p. m. that day. Answer. 

A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) Executive Mansion, 

Washington, June 13, 1863. 
Major-General Hooker* 

I was coming down this afternoon, but if yoi would prefer I 
should not, I shall blame you if you do not tell me so. 

A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) War Department, 

Washington, D. C, June 14, 1863. 
General Tyler, Martinsburg: 

Is IMolroy invested, so that he cannot fall back to Harper's 
Ferry '^ A. Lincoln. 

(Cyi^her) War Department. 

Washington, D. C, June 14, 1863. 
General Tyler, Martinsburg: 

If you are besieged how do you dispatch me? Why did you not 
leave before being besieged? A. Lincoln. 

Washington, D. C, June 14, 1863. 

Major-General Kelley, Harper's Eerry: 

Are the forces at Winchester and Martinsburg making any effort 
to get to you? A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 

June 15, 1863. 
Mrs. Lincoln, Philadelphia, Pa.: 

Tolerably well. Have not rode out much yet, but have at last 
got new tires on the carriage wheels and perhaps shall ride out 
soon. A. Lincoln. 

War Departaient, 
Washington, D. C, June 16, 1863—5.35 p. m. 

General Tyler, Harper's Ferry: 

Please answer as soon as you can the following inquiries which 
General Hooker makes. A. Lincoln. 

(24) 



370 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, June 16, 1863. 



HoRRACE BiNNEY, Jr., Philadelphia: 

I sent General Cadwallader some houi-s ago to the Secretary of 
War, and general-in-chief with the question you ask. I have not 
heard the residt. A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, June 16, 1863. 

Frederick Kapp and Others, New York: 

The Governor of New York jiromises to send us troops and if 
he wishes the assistance of General Fremont and General Sigel. 
one or both, he can have it. If he does not wish them it would but 
breed confusion for us to set them to work independently of him. 

A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, June 16, 1863. 

General T. Francis Mkagher, New York: 

Your dispatch received. Shall be very glad for you to raise 
3,000 Irish troops if done by the consent of, and in concert with 
Governor Seymour. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington City, D, C., June 16, 1863. 

Mrs. Lincoln, Philadelphia: 

It is a matter of choice with yourself whether you come home. 
There is no reason why you should not, that did not exist when 
you went away. As bearing on the question of your coming home, 
I do not think the raid into Pennsylvania amounts to anything at 
all. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, June 16, 1863. 

Col. William S. Bliss, New York Hotel: 

Your dispatch asking whether I will accept " the Loyal Bri- 
gade of the North " is received. I never heard of that brigade 
by name and do not know where it is, yet presuming it is in New 
York, I say I will gladly accept it, if tendered by and witli the 
consent and approbation of the Governor of that State. Other- 
wise not. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 

3/ 



^"7 1 



War Departmrxt, 
Washington^ D. C, June 17, 1863. 
Major-General Hooker : 

Mr. Eckert, superintendent in the telegraph office, assures me 
that he has sent, and will send you everything that comes to the 
office. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, June 18, 1863. 

Joshua Tevis, Esq., U. S. Attorney, Frankfort, Ky. : 

A Mr. Buckner is here showing a record and asking to be dis- 
charged from a suit in San Francisco, as bail for one Thompson. 
Unless the record shown me is defectively made out I think it 
can be successfully defended against. Please examine the case 
carefully, and if you shall be of opinion it cannot be sustained, 
dismiss it and relieve me from all trouble about it. Please answer. 

A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) ExECUTn'E Mansion, 

Washington, June 18, 1863. 

Governor D. Tod, Columbus, Ohio: 

Yours received. I deeply regret that you were not renominated, 
not that I have aught against Mr. Brough. On the contrary like 
yourself, I say hurrah for him. A. Lincoln. 

War Depart NtENT, 
Washington, D. C, June 18, 1S63. 

General A. Dingman, Belleville, C. W. : 

Thanks for your offer of the Fifteenth Battalion. T do not 
think Washington is in danger. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, June 21, 1863. 

General Schofield, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

I write you to-day in answer to your dispatch of yesterday. If 
you cannot await the arrival by mail telegrai)h mo again. 

A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) War Department, 

Washington, D. C, June 23, 186.'i. 

Major VanVliet, New York : 

Have you any idea what the news is in the dispatch of General 
Banks to General Halleck? A. Lincoln. 



372 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

War Department, 

June 24, 186d. 
Major-General Couch, Ilarrisburg, Pa.: 

Have you any reports of the enemy moving into Pennsylvania's 
And if any what? A. Lincoln. 

Washington, June 24, 1863. 

Major-General Dix, Yorktown, Va. : 

We have a dispatch from General Grant of the 19th. Don't think 
Kirby Smith took Milliken's Bend since, allowing time to get the 
news to Joe Johnston and from him to Richmond. But it is not 
absolutely impossible. Also have news from Banks to the 16th, 
I think. He had not run away then, nor thought of it. 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C., June 25, 1863. 

General Peck, Suffolk, Va. : 

Colonel Derrom, of the Twenty-fifth New Jersey Volunteers, 
now mustered out, says there is a man in your hands under con- 
viction for desertion, who formerly belonged to the above named 
regiment, and whose name is Templeton, Isaac F. Templeton, I 
believe. The colonel and others appeal to me for him. Please 
telegraph to me what is the condition of tlie case, and if he has 
not been executed send me the record of the trial and conviction. 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, June 25, 1863. 

Major-General Slocum, Lcesburg, Va. : 

Was William Gruvier, Company A, Forty-sixth Pennsylvania, 
one of the men executed as a deserter last Friday ? 

A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) Washington, June 26, 1863. 

Major-General Burnside, Cincinnati, Ohio: 

What is the case of " William Waller," at Maysville, Ky. ? 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, June 27, 1863 — 8 a. m. 

Major-General Hooker : 

It did not come from the newspapers, nor did I believe it but 
I wished to be entirely sure it was a falsehood. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 373 

Executive Mansion, 
"Washington, June 28, 1863. 

Major-General Burnside, Cincinnati, Ohio: 

There is nothing going on in Kentucky on the subject of which 
you telegraph, except an enrollment. Before anything is done be- 
yond this, I will take care to understand the case better than I 
now do. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, June 28, 1863. 

Governor J. T. Boyle, Cincinnati, Ohio: 

There is nothing going on in Kentucky on the subject of which 
you telegraph, except an enrollment. Before anything is done 
beyond this, I will take care to understand the case better than 
1 now do. A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, June 28, 1863. 

Major-General Schenck, Baltimore, Md. : 

Every place in the Naval school subject to my appointment is 
full and I have one unredeemed promise of more than half a year's 
standing. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, June 30, 1863. 

Governor Parker, Trenton, N. J.: 

Tour dispatch of yesterday received. I really think the alti- 
tude of the enemies army in Pennsylvania presents us the best 
opportunity we have had since the war began. I think you will 
not see the foe in New Jersey. I beg you to be assured that no 
one out of my position can know so well as if he were in it, the 
difficulties and involvments of replacing General McClellan in 
command, and this aside from any imputations upon him. Please 
accept my sincere thanks for what you have done and are doing 
to get troops forward. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington City, June 30, 1863. 

A. K. McClure, Philadelphia : 

Do we gain anything by opening one leak to stop another? Do. 
we gain anything by quieting one clamor merely to open another, 
and probably a larger one ^ A. Lincoln. 



374 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

(Cypher) 

Washington City, June 30, 1863 — 3.25 p. m. 

Major-General Couch, Harrisbu'c', Pa.: 

I judge by absence of news that the enemy is not crossing OT 
pressing up to the Susquehanna. Please tell me what you know 
of his movements. A. Lincoln. 

"War Department, 
Washington, D. C, July 3, 1863. 

Major-General Burnside, Cincinnati, Ohio: 

Private Downey, of the Twentieth or Twenty-sixth Kentucky 
Infantry, is said to have been sentenced to be shot for desertion 
to-day. If so, respite the execution until I can see the record. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, July 3, 1863. 

EoBERT T. Lincoln, Esq., Cambridge, ]\Iass. : 

Don't be uneasy. Your Mother very slightly hurt by her fall. 

A. L. 
Please send at once. 

(Cypher) War Department, 

Washington, D. C, July 5, 1863. 

Major-General French, Frederick Town, Md. : 

I see your dispatch about destruction of pontoons. Cannot the 
enemy ford the river? A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, July 7, 1863. 

J. K. Dubois and Others, Springfield, 111.: 

An appointment of Chesley at Danville had already been made 
and gone forward for enrollment commissioner of Seventh Dis- 
trict when your dispatch arrived. . A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, July 8, 1863. 

E. Delafield Smith, New York: 

Your kind dispatch on behalf of self and friends is gratefully 
received. Capture of Vicksburg confirmed by dispatch from Gen- 
eral Grant himself. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX ^-r- 

0/ D 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, J uly 8, 1863. 

Hon. F. y. Low, San Francisco, Cal. : 

There is no doubt that General Meade, now commanding the 
Army of the Potomae, beat J^ee at Gettysburp:, Pa., at the end 
of a three days' battle, and tliat the latter is now (-rossiiif? the 
Potomac at Williamsport over the swollen stream and witli poor 
means of crossing, and closely pressed by ]\Ieade. We also have 
dispatches rendering it entirely certain that Vicksburg surrendered 
to General Grant on the glorious old 4th. A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) War Department, 

Washington City, D. C., July 9, 1863. 

Hon. Leonard Swett, Hon. F. F. Low, San Francisco, Cal.: 

Consult together and do nut have a riot, or great ditiiculty about 
delivering possession. A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) War Department, 

Washington City, July 11, 1863. 

Major-General Schenck, Baltimore, lid. : 

How many rebel ])risoners captured within ]\raryland and Penn- 
sylvania have reached Baltimore within this month of July? 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive l\rANsioN, 
Washington, July 11, 1863. 

R. T. Lincoln, New York, Fifth Avenue Hotel : 

Come to Washington. A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) War Departmext, 

Washington, D. C, July 12, 1863. 

Major-General Schenck, Baltimore, Md. : 

You seem to misunderstand the nature of the objection to Gen- 
eral Tremble's going to Baltimore. His going there is opposed 
to prevent his meeting his traitorous associates there. 

A. Lincoln. 

War DEPART.\rE.vT. 
Washington, D. C, July U, 1863. 

Robert T. Lincoln, New York, Fifth Avenue Hotel : 

Why do I hear no more of you? A. Lincoln. 



-1 " 



75 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

(Cypher) War Department, 

Washington Citv, July 15, 1863. 

Hon. L. Swett, San Francisco, Cal. : 

Many persons are telegraphing me from California, begging me 
for the peace of the State to suspend the military enforcement 
of the writ of possession in the Almedan case, while you are the 
single one who urges the contrary. You know I would like to 
oblige you, but it seems to me my duty in this case is the other 
way. A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) War Department, 

Washington City, July 15, 1863. 

Hon. Simon Cameron, Harrisburg, Pa. : 

Your dispatch of yesterday received. Lee was already across 
the river when you sent it. I would give much to be relieved of 
the impression that Meade, Couch, Smith, and ail since the battle 
at Gettysburg, have striven only to get Lee over the river without 
another fight. Please tell me, if you know, who was the one corps 
conunander who was for fighting in the council of war on Sunday 
night. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, July 15, 1863. 

Robert A. Maxwell, 1032 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia: 

Your dispatch of to-day is received, but I do not understand it. 

A. Lincoln. 

Washington, D. C, July 18, 1863. 
Governor O. P. Morton, Indianapolis: 

What do you remember about the case of John O. Brown, con- 
victed of mutinous conduct and sentenced to death? What do 
you desire about it? A. Lincoln. 

New York, July 28, 1863. 
Mrs. a. Lincoln, New York: 

Bob went to Fort Monroe and only got back to-day. Will start 
to you at 11 a. m. to-morrow. All well. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, July 30. 1863. 
Major-General Meade : 

Please suspend execution of Peter Schalowsky, Company B, For- 
ty-fifth New York Regiment Volunteers, till further order and 
send me record of his conviction. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX -^-j-^ 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, August 3, 1863. 

Major-General !Foster, (or whoever may be in command of the 
military department with headquarters at Fort Monroe, Va.:) 

If Dr. Wright on trial at Norfolk, has been or shall be convicted, 
send me a transcript of his trial and conviction and do not let 
execution be done upon him until my further order. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, August 4, 1863. 

Hon. John A. Bingham, Cadiz, Ohio: 

It is indispensable for us to have a judge at Key West as soon 
as possible. Please inform me whether you will go. 

A. Lincoln. 



(Cypher) War Department, 

Washington, D. C, August 5, 1863. 
Cincinnati Gazette: 

Please send me your present posting as to Kentucky election. 

A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, August 15, 1863. 

Major-General Foster, Fort Monroe, Va. : 

I think you are right in placing "little reliance in the report," 
still the question is so interesting that T would like to know if the 
captain of the Hudson gave any particulars how he got his news 
and the like. Please answer. A. Lincoln. 



Washington, D. C, August 17, 1863. 

General W. K. Strong, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

Please send me a transcript of the record in the case j\rcQuin 
and Bell, under sentence of death by a commission of which you 
were the head. A. Lincoln. 

Washington, D, 0., August 17, 1863. 

Governor Johnson, Nashville, Tenn.: 

The appointment of Colonel Gillam to be a brigadier-general hag 
been ordered. A, Lincoln. 



37S LIFE OF LINCOLN 

(Private.) 
Hon. James Conkling. 

War Department, 
Washington City, D. C, August 17, 1863. 

My Dear Conkling: I cannot leave here now. Herewith is a 
letter instead. You are one of the best public readers. I have but 
one suggestion — read it very slowly. And now God bless you, and 
all good Union men. Yours as ever, 

A. Lincoln. 

(From Herndon's " Life of Lincoln." Permission of Jesse Weik.) 

(Cypher) War Department, 

Wasiiingtox, D. C, August 20, 1863. 

Hon. James C. Conkling, Springfield, 111.: 

Your letter of the 14th is received. I think I will go or send 
a letter, probably the latter. A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) War Department, 

Washington, D. C, August 20, 1863. 

General A. J. Hamilton, (of Texas) New York: 

Telegraph me the name of a boy or young man who you would 
like to have appointed to West Point. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, August 21, 1863. 

Ma.ior-General Meade, Warrenton, Va.: 

At this late moment T am appealed to in behalf of William 
Thompson of Company K, Third Maryland Volunteers, in Twolftli 
Army Corps, said to be at Kelly's Ford, mider sentence to be sliot 
to-day as a deserter. He is represented to me to be very young, 
with symptoms of insanity. Please postpone the exocntion till 
further order. A. Lincoln. 

Washington, D. C, August 22, 1863. 

General Schofield, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

Please send me if you can a transcript of the record in the case 
of McQuin and Bell, convicted of murder by a military commis- 
sion. I telegraphed General Strong for it, but he does not answer. 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, August 24, 1863. 

Mrs. Elizabeth J. Grimsley, Springfield, HI.: 

I mail the papers to you to-day appointing Johnny to the Naval 
school. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 



179 



War DiipAUTMENT, 
"Washington, D. C, August 28, 1863. 

Major-General Foster, Fort Monroe, Va. : 

Please notify, if you ciiii, Senator Bowden, Mr. Segar, and Mr. 
Chandler, all, or any of tlicni, that 1 now have the record in Dr. 
Wright's ease and am ready to hear them. When you shall have 
got the notice to them please let me know. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, August 28, 1863. 

General Crawford, Rappahannock Station, Va. : 

I regret that I cannot be present to witness the presentation of 
a sword by the gallant Pennsylvania Reserve Corps to one so 
worthy to receive it as General Meade. A. Lincoln. 

Washington, D, C, August 29, 18G3. 
Hon. L. Swett, San Francisco, Cal. : 

If the Government's rights are reserved, the Government will be 
satisfied, and at all events it will considei*. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, August 29, 1863. 

Ben. Field, Esq., Syracuse, N. Y. : 

I send you by mail to-day a copy of the Springfield letter. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Waspiington, D. C, August 29, 1863. 

Mrs. a. Lincoln, Manchester, N. PL: 

All (tuite well. Fort Sumter is certainltj battered down and 
utterly useless to the enemy, and it is helieved here, but not en- 
tirely certain that both Sumter and Fort Wagner are ociHinied 
by our forces. It is also certain that General Gilmore has thrown 
some shot into the city of Charleston. A. Lincoln. 

Executive ]\rANSioN, 
Washington, August 31, 1863. 

Hon. James C. Conkling, Springfield, 111.: 

In my letter of the 2Gth insert between the sentence ending 
"since the issue of the emancipation proclamntion as before" and 
the next commencing " You say you will not fight, «&c.," what fol- 
lows below my sitrnature hereto. A. Lincoln. 



380 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

" I know as fully as one can know the opinions of others, that 
some of the commanders of our armies in the field, who have given 
us our most important successes, believe the emancipation policy, 
and the use of colored troops, constitute the heaviest blow yet 
dealt to the rebellion, and that at least one of those important 
successes, could not have been achieved when it was, but for the 
aid of black soldiers. Among the commanders holding these views 
are some who have never had any affinity with what is called abo- 
litionism, or with Republican party politics, but who hold them 
purely as military opinions. I submit these opinions as being en- 
titled to some weight against the objections, often urged, that 
emancipation, and arming the blacks, are unwise as military meas- 
ures, and were not adopted as such in good faith." 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, August 31, 1863. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Lauck, Munfordsville, Ky. : 

Let the execution of Thomas E. Coleman and Charles Johns, 
be suspended until further order from here. Acknowledge receipt 
of this. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, August 31, 1863. 

Col. a, G. TTobson, Bowling Green, Ky. : 

I have telegraphed Lieutenant-Colonel Lauck, at Munfords- 
ville, to suspend the execution of Coleman and Johns until fur- 
ther order from herei A. Lincoln. 

Washington, D. C, August 31, 1863. 

H. B. Wilson and Others, Camden N. J.: 

Will grant you an interview on Wednesday or sooner. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 3, 1863. 

Hon. James C. Conkling, Springfield, 111.: 

I am mortified this morning to find the letter to you botched up 
in the Eastern papers, telegraphed from Chicago. How did this 
happen? A. Lincoln. 

Washington, D. C, September 3, 1863. 

Mrs. a. Lincoln, Manchester, Vt. : 

The Secretary of War tells me he has telegraphed General 
Doubleday to await further orders. We are all well and have noth- 
ing new. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 381 

War Dkpartment, 
Washington, D. C, September 5, 1863. 

Hon. Joseph Segar, Fort Monroe, Va. : 

I have just seen your dispatch to the Secretary of War, who ia 
absent. I also send a dispatch from Major Ilayner of the 3d 
showing that he had notice of my order, and stating that the peo- 
ple were jubilant over it, as a victory over the Govennnent ex- 
torted by fear, and that he had. already collected about 4,000 of 
the money. If he has proceeded since I shall hold him accounta- 
ble for his contumacy. On the contrary no dollar shall be re- 
funded by my order until it shall appear that my act in the case 
has been accepted in the right spirit. A. Lincoln. 



War Dp:partment, 
Washington, D. C, September 6, 1863. 

Major-General Schenck, Baltimore: 

The Secretary of War is absent. Please direct or order that the 
collection of the light house be suspended, and that the money 
already collected be held, both till further order. 

A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington, D, C, September 6, 1863. 

Mrs. a. Lincoln, Manchester, Yt. : 

All well and no news except that General Burnside has Knox- 
ville, Tenn. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 9, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Warrenton, Va. : 

It would be a generous thing to give General Wheaton a leave of 
absence for ten or fifteen days, and if you can do so without injury 
to the service, please do it. A. Lincoln. 

Washington, D. C., September 10, 1863. 

General Wheaton, Army of Potomac: 

Yesterday at the insttiuce of Mr. Blair, senator, I telegrai^hed 
General Meade asking him to grant you a leave of absence, to 
which he replied that you had not applied for such leave, and that 
you can have it when you do apply. I suppose it is proper for you 
to know this. A. Lincoln. 



.82 LIFE OF LINCOL?^ 

Washington, D. C, September 11, 1863. 

Vice Prci^ident Hamlin, Bangor, Me.: 

Your letter of August 22, to be presented by your son Cyrus ia 
on my table, but I have not seen him, or know of his being here 
recently. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 11, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Warrenton, Va. : 

It is represented to me that Thomas Edds, in your army, is 
under sentence of death for desertion, to be executed next Mon- 
day. It is also said his supposed desertion is comprised in an ab- 
sence commencing with his falling behind last winter, being cap- 
tured and paroled by the enemy, and then going home. If this 
be near the truth, please suspend the execution till further order 
and send me the record of the trial. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 12, 1863. 

General Geary, Kelly's Ford: 

Please tell me what you know or believe as to the conduct and 
disposition of E. .Tacfiuclin Smith, residing near Salem on the 
Manassas Gap Railroad. A. Lincoln. 



Washington, D. C., September 12, 1863. 

Ma.tor-General IMRAnE, Warrenton, Va..: 

The name is " Thomas Edds " not " Ed-iies " as in your dis- 
patch. The papers left with me do not designate the regiment 
to which he belongs. The man who gave me the papers, I do not 
know how to find again. He only told me that Edds is in the 
Army of the Potomac, and that he fell out of the ranks during 
Burnsides' mud march last winter. If I get further information 
I will telegraph again. A. Lincoln. 



(Cypher) Executive Mansion, 

Washington, September 13, 1863. 

Hon. J. K. Dubois, Hon. O. ]\r. Hatch: 

What nation do you desire General Allen to be made quarter- 
master-general of? This nation already has a quartermaster- 
general. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 13, 18G3. 

Dr. John P. Gray, Norfolk, Va. : 

The names of those whose affidavits are h'ft with me on the 
question of Dr. Wright's sanity are as follows: 

Mrs. Jane C. Bolsom, Mrs. M. E. Smiley, Moses ITudgiii, .1. 1). 
Ghislin, Jr., Eelix Logue, Robert B. Tunstall, M. D., iMrs. Eliza- 
beth Rooks, Dr. E. D. Granier, Thomas K. Murray, William J. 
Holmes, Miss Margaret E. Wigeon, Mrs. Emily S. Frost. 

A, Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 13, 1863. 

Dr. William H. ji j-icott, Danville, Til.: 

Your niece, Mrs. Kate Sharp, can now have no difficulty in 
going to Knoxvilie, Tenn., as that place is within our military 
lines. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, September 15, 18G3. 

J. G. Blaine, Augusta, Me.: 

Thanks both for the good news you send and for the sending 
of it. A. Lincoln. 

Washington, D. C., September IG, 1863. 

Mrs. J. E. Speed, Louisville, Ky. : 

Mr. Holm.an will not be jostled from his place with my knowl- 
edge and consent. A. Lincoln. 

Executive TMan^jion, 
Washington, September 16, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Warrenton, Va. : 

Is Albert Jones of Company K, Third Maryland Volunteers to 
be shot on Eriday next? If so please state to me the general fea- 
tures of the case. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion. 
Washington, September 17, 1863. 

Major-General Schenck, Baltimore, Md. : 

Major Haynor left here several days ago under a promise to 
put down in writing, in detail the facts in relation to the mis- 
conduct of the people on the Eastern shore of Virginia. He hag 
hot returned. Please send him over. A. Lincoln. 



384 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 17, 1863. 



Major-Geneeal Meade, Headquarters Army of Potomac: 

Yours in relation to Albert Jones is received. I am appealed 
to in behalf of Kichard M. Abrams of Company A, Sixth New Jer- 
sey Volunteers, by Governor Parker, Attorney-General Freelintr- 
hoysen. Governor Newell, Hon. Mr. Middleton, M. C, of the dis- 
trict and the marshal who arrested him. I am also appealed to in 
behalf of Joseph S. Smith, of Company A, Eleventh New Jersey 
Volunteers, by Governor Parker, Attorney-Ge .aral Freelinghoy- 
sen, and Hon. Marcus C. Ward. Please state the circumstances of 
their cases to me. A. Lincoln. 



(Cypher) Executive Mansion, 

Washington, September 18, 1863. 

Hon. Andrew Johnson, Nashville, Tenn. : 

Dispatch of yesterday just received. I shall try to find the paper 
you mention and carefully consider it. In the meantime let me 
urge that you do your utmost to get every man you can, black and 
white, under arms at the very earliest moment, to guard roads, 
bridges and trains, allowing all the better trained soldiers to go 
forward to Rosecrans. Of course I mean for you to act in co-op- 
eration with> and not independently of the military authorities. 

A. Lincoln. 



Washington, D. C, September 18, 1863. 

C. M. Smith, Esq., Springfield, 111. : 

Why not name him for the general you fancy most? This is mj 
suggestion. A. Lincoln. 

Washington, September 18, 1863. 

Mrs. Hannah Armstrong, Petersburg, 111.: 

I have just ordered the discharge of your boy William as you 
say, now at Louisville, Ky. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, September 19, 1863. 

Hughey Gallagher, Philadelphia, Pa. : 

1 know nothing as to John Gallagher. The law does not require 
this class of cases to come before me, -md they do not come unless 
bi'ought by tlie friends of the condenuied. A. LINCOLN. 



APPENDIX 



3^5 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, September 20, 1863. 

Mrs. a. Lincoln, New York: 

I neither see nor hear anything of sickness here now, though 
there may be much without my knowing it. I wish you to stay, or 
come just as is most agreeable to yourself. A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, September 21, 1863. 

Mrs. a. Lincoln, Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York: 

The air is so clear and cool and apparently healthy that I would 
he glad for you to come. Nothing very particular but I would 
be glad to see you and Tad. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, September 21, 1863. 

Governor Pierpoint, Alexandria, Va. : 

I would be glad to have your opinion whether it would be good 
policy to refund the money collected from the people of East 
Virginia, as indemnity for the light house depredation. I believe 
you once gave me your opinion on the point, but I am not entirely 
sure. Please answer. A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, September 21, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac: 

I am appealed to in behalf of John H. Williams, Company D, 
Fourth Regiment Maryland Volunteers, First Corps, who is said 
to be vmder sentence of death, to be executed on the 25th for de- 
sertion. The appeal is made on the ground of unsoundness of 
mind. Please give me briefly the facts and your views. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington. September 22, 1863. 

Military Officer in Command, Cumberland. l\r(l.: 

It is represented to me that one Dennis IMcCarty. is at Cumber- 
land under sentence of death, but that the time is not yet fixed 
for his execution. Please answer telling me whether this state- 
ment is correct, and also if an order shall come to you for his exe- 
cution, notify me of it at once by telep-v-aph. A. Lincoln. 
(25) 



3^(5 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
"Washington, September 22, 1863, 

Hon O. M. Hatch, Hon, J. K. Dubois, Springfield, 111. : 

Your letter is just received. The particular form of my dispatch 
was jocular, which I supposed you gentlemen knew me well enough 
to understand. General Allen is considered here as a very faithful 
and capable officer, and one who would be at least thought of for 
quartermaster-general if that office were vacant. A. Lincoln. 

Executive M.vnsion, 
"Washington, September 22, 1863. 

Mrs. a. Lincoln, Fifth Avenue House, New York: 

Did you receive my dispatch of yesterday? Mrs. Cuthbert did 
not correctly understand me. I directed her to tell you to use 
your own pleasure whether to stay or come, and I did not say it 
is sickly and that you shoiild on no account come. So far as I see 
or know, it was never healthier, and I really wish to see you. An- 
swer this on receipt. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 23, 1883. 

Thomas Davies, Indianapolis, Ind. : 

Forward your petition and record of trial immediately. There 
is time for the-m to reach before the 1st of next month. 

A. Lincoln. 

Execittive Mansion, 
Washington, September 24, 1863. 

Major-General Meahe. Army of Potomac: 

I am appealed to in favor of a private (name not remembered) 
in Company D, First Kogiment New Jersey Volunteers, in Sixth 
Corps, who is said to be under sentence to be sliot to-morrow. 
Please give me briefly the facts of the case, including his age and 
your opinion f)n it. A. Lincoln. 

P. S. — Also give me a like statement in the case of Daniel Sul- 
livan, of Thirteenth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, First 
Army Corps. A. Lincoln. 

"War Dhi'artment, 
Washington, D. C, September 25, 1863. 

General McCallum^ Alexandria, Va.: 

I have sent to General Meade, by telegraph, to suspend the exe- 
cution of Daniel Sullivan of Company E, Thirteenth Massachu- 



APPENDIX -87 

setts, which was to be to-day, but understanding there is an inter- 
ruption on the line, may I beg you to send this to him by the quick- 
est mode in your power ? A. Lincoln. 

War Depaut.mkxt, 
Washington, D. C, September 25, 1863. 

Major-General Schenck, Baltimore, Md.: 

Please send Major Hayner over now. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, September 25, 1863, 

Major General Meade, Army of Potomac : 

Owing to the press in behalf of Daniel Sullivan, Company E, 
Thirteenth Massachusetts, and the doubt though small, which you 
express of his guiltv intention, T have concluded to say let his 
execution be suspended till further order, and copy of record 
sent me. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 26, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Ai-my of the Potomac: 

I am appealed to in behalf of Adam Wolf, private in Company 
H, Thirteenth Massachusetts Regiment. Please answer as you 
have done in other cases. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, September 29, 1863. 

Officer in Comimand at Indianapolis, Ind. : 

Please suspend execution of Adam Davies till further order from 
me. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, September 3'), 1863. 

General Schofield, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

Following disijatch just received : 

Union Men Driven Out of ^^fissouri. 

Leavenworth, September 29. — Governor Gamble having author- 
ized Colonel Moss, of Liberty, Mo., to arm the men in Platte and 
Clinton Counties, he has armed mostly the returned rebel sol- 
diers and men under bonds. Moss' men are now driving the L^nioD 



388 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

men out of Missouri. Over one hundred families crossed the river 
to-day. Many of the wives of our Union soldiers have been com< 
polled to leave. Four or five Union men have been murdered bj 
Colonel Moss' men. 

Please look to this and if true, in whole or part put a stop to it. 

A. Lincoln. 

Francis S. Corkran, Baltimore, Md. 

Executive Mansion, Washington, Sept. 30, 1863. 

Hon. Francis S. Corkran, Baltimore, Md. 

Mrs. L. is now at home and would be pleased to see you any 
time. If the grape time has not passed away, she would be pleased 
to join in the enterprise you mention. Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Clarence G. Corkran, Lutherville, ]\fd.) 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington City, D. C, October 1, 18G3. 

Governor Bradford, Baltimore, Md. : 

Please be here in person at 12 m. Saturday to fix up definitely 
in writing the matter about which Mr. Johnson and Governor 
Hicks brings a communication from you. A. Lincoln. 

Please repeat to Annapolis. A. L. 



War Departiment, 
Washington, D. C, October 1, 18G3. 

General Tyler, Baltimore: 

Take care of colored troops in your charge, but do nothing fur- 
ther about that branch of affairs until further orders. Particu- 
larly do nothing about General Vickers of Kent County. 

A. Lincoln. 

Send a copy to Colonel Birney. A. L. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, October 1, 1863—4.20 p. m 

Thomas A. Scott, Louisville, Ky. : 

Tell me how things have advanced so far as you know. 

A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 



89 



Executive Maxsiox. 

October 1, 18«3. 
Major-General Meade: 

Let respite of ten days be granted to Herman Barber, alias E. W. 
Von Heinecke, sentenced to be shot to-morrow for desertion. 

A. Lincoln. 
Major Eckert: 

Send by telegraph at once. 

(Cypher) War DEPART^rENT, 

Washington, D. C, October 3, 18G3. 

Colonel Birney, Baltimore, Md. : 

Please give me as near as you can, the number of slaves you 
have recruited in Maryland. Of course the number is not to in- 
clude the free colored. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, October 3, 1SG3. 

Major-General Meade^ Army of Potomac: 

Have you a man in jeopardy as a deserter by the name William 
T. Evers, private in Company D, Brooklyn Fourteenth State Mil- 
itia, or Eighty-fourth Volunteers? If you have please send me 
the facts and conditions of his case. A. Lincoln. 

War Di-:partment, 
Washington, D. C, October 4, 1803. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac: 

I am appealed to in behalf of Daniel Hanson, of Ninety-sevonth 
New York, said to be under sentence of death for desertion. I'lease 
inform nie as usual. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, October 5, 1SG3. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac: 

Yesterday T inquired of you about Daniel Hanson, private in 
Ninety-seventh New York, said to be under sentence of death for 
desertion. 1 fear you did not receive the dispatch. Please answer. 

A. Lixcoln. 

War DEPART>rEXT, 
Washington, D. C, October 7, 1863. 

Governor Johnson, Nashville, Tenn: 

What news have you from Rosecrans' army, or in that direction 
beyond Nashville? A. Lincoln. 



390 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, October 8, 1863. 



Ma.tor-Generai. Meade, Army of Potomac: 

I am appealed to in behalf of August Blittersdorf, at Mitchell's 
Station, Va., to be shot to-morrow as a deserter. I am unwilling 
for any boy under eighteen to be shot, and his father affirms 
that he is yet under sixteen. Please answer. His regiment or 
company not given me. A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, October 8, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac: 

I am appealed to in behalf of John Murphy, to be shot to- 
morrow. His mother says he is but seventeen. Please answer. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, October 8, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac: 

The boy telegraphs from Mitchell's Station, Ya. The father 
thinks he is in the One hundred and nineteenth Pennsylvania Vol- 
unteers. The father signs the name " Blittersdorf." I can tell 
no more. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, October 11, 1863—9.50 a. m. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac: 

How is it now ? A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, October 12, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac: 

The father and mother of John Murphy, of tlie One hundred 
and nineteenth Pennsjdvania Volunteers, have filed their own affi- 
davits that he was born June 22, 1846, and also the affidavits of 
three other persons who all swear that they remembered the cir- 
cumstances of his birth and that it was in the year 1840, though 
they do not remember the particular day. I therefore on account 
of his tender age, have concluded to pardon him, and to leave it 
to yourself, whether to discharge him or continue him in the 
service. A. Lincoln, 



APPENDIX ^,g; 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, October 13, 1863. 
McVeigh, Philadelphia: 

The enemy some rln.As ago made a movement, apparently to turn 
General Meade's right. This led to a manopuvering of the two 
armies and to pre+ty heavy skirmisliing on Saturday, Sunday and 
Monday. We have frequent dispatches from General Meade, and 
up to 10 o'clock last night nothing had happened giving either 
side any mai'ked advantage. Our army reported to be in excellent 
condition. The telegraph is open to General Meade's camp this 
morning, but we have not troubled him for a dispatch. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion. 
Washington, October 13, 1863. 

Hon. J. Tv. Moorehead, Pittsburg, Pa.: 

Not unless you think it necessary. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, October 14, 1863—3.35. 

Wayne McVeigh, Philadelphia: 

How does it stand now? A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C. 
Governor Curtin, Harrisburg, Pa.: 

How does it stand? A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington City, October 15, 1863. 

Hon. Jaaies W. Grimes, Burlington, Iowa: 

Thanks for your Iowa election news. I suppose you know that 
Pennsylvania and Ohio are all right. Governor Morton telegraphs 
that county elections in Indiana have gone largely in the same 
direction. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, October 15. 1803. 

Ma.t. IIeriMan Keitez, Cumberland, Md.: 

Suspend execution of Dennis McCarty till further order from 
here. If McCarty has been removed send this to the officer where 
he is. A. Lincoln. 



392 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, October 15, 1863. 

L. B. Toui), Lexington, Ivy.: 

I send the following pass to your care. 

A. Lincoln. 

" Washington, D. C, October 15, 1863. 

To whom it may concern : 

Allow Mrs. Robert S. Todd, widow, to so South and bring her 
daughter Mrs. General B. Hardin Helm, with her children north 
to Kentucky. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, October 15, 1863. 

Ma.ior-General Foster, Fort Monroe, Va.: 

Postpone the execution of Dr. Wright to Friday the 23d instant, 
(October). This is intended for his preparation and is final. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, October 15, 1863. 

Ma.jor-Gknerai. Meade, Army of Potomac: 

On the 4th instant you telegraphed me that Private; Daniel Han- 
son, of Ninety-seventh Nev/ York Volunteers, had not yet been 
tried. Wiien he shall be, please notify me of the i-esult. with a 
brief statement of his case, if he be convicted. Gustavo Blit- 
tersdorj, ^vliom you say is enlisted in the One liuiidred and nine- 
teenth Pennsylvania Volunteers, as William Fox, is proven to 
me to be only fifteen years old last January. I pardon him, and 
you will discharge liiin or put liim in the ranks at your discre- 
tion. Miithias Brown, of Nineteenth Pennsylvania Volunteers, is 
))rov(Mi to me to be eigliteen last May, and his friends say he is 
coiiviclcd on an enlistineiit and for a desertion, both before that 
time. If this last ])e true he is pardoned, to be kept or discharged 
as you please. If not trup suspend his execution and report the 
facts of his case. Did you receive my dispatch of 12th pardoning 
John ]\rurphy? A. Lincoln. 

Executive "Mansion. 
Washington, D. C, October 10, 1863. 

Hon. S. p. Chase, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio: 

If Judge Lawrence cannot go to Key West at once, I shall have 
to appoint another. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 293 

War Dkpartmrnt, 
WASHiNriTON, D. C, October l(j, 18G3. 

Thomas W. Sweeney, CoDtiuental, Philadelphia : 

Tad is teasing me to have you forward his pistol to liim. 

A. J^INCOLN. 

Washington, D. C, October IG, 18G3. 
T. C. DuRANT, New York: 

I remember receiving nothing- from you of the lOtli. and T da 
not comprehend your dispatch of to-day. In fact I do not remem- 
ber, if I ever knew who you are, and I have very lit'.lc comvi)- 
tion as to what you are telegraphing about. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
WASiriNciTON, October IG, 18GP>, 

Major-Genfral Meade, Army of Potomac: 

Have you in custody for desertion a man by the name of Jacob 
>Schwarz, a Swiss '^ If so please send a short statement of his case. 
Neither his company, regiment or corps is given me. 

A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) War DEPARTiiENT, 

Washington, D. C, October 17, 18G3. 

Major-General Burnside, Knoxville, Tenn.: 

I am greatly interested to know how many new troops of all 
sorts you have raised in Tennessee. Please inform me. 

A. Lincoln. 

War DEPART^tRNT, 

Washington, D. C, October 17, 1SG3. 

TToN. SnroN Cameron, Harrisburg, Pa.: 

I forgot to notify you that your dispatch of day before yesterday 
was duly received, and inunediately attended to in the best wa.v 
we could think of. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion. 
Washington, October 17, 18G3. 

Major-General Slocum, Stevenson. Ala.: 

Please have a medical examination made of William Brown, 
private in Company C, Fifth Connecticut Volunteers, and rei)ort 
the result to me. A. Lincoln. 



394 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, October 17, 1863. 



Hon. W'illiam B. Thomas, Philadelphia, Pa.: 

I am grateful for your oifer of lOO.OOO men, but as at present 
advised I do not consider that Washington is in danger, or that 
there is any emergency requiring 60 or 90 days men. 

A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) War Department, 

Washington, D. C, October 17, 1863, 

Major-General Foster, Fort Monroe, Va. : 

It would be useless for Mrs. Dr. Wright to come here. The sub- 
ject is a very painful one, but the case is settled. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington City, D. C, October 18, 1863. 

T. C. Durant, New York : 

As I do with others, so I will try to see you when you come. 

A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) War Department, 

Washington, D. C, October 20, 1863. 

Col. Donn Piatt, Baltimoi^, Md. : 

If the young men seem to know anything of importance, send 
them over. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, October 20, 1863. 
Major-General Burnside, 

Brig. Gen. J. T. Boyle, Louisville, Ky. : 

Let execution of sentence of Lee W. Long be suspended until 
further order. A. Lincoln, 

War Department, 
Washington, D, C, October 22, 1863. 

Military Commander, Evansville, Ind. : 

A certain Major Long, I believe Lee W. Long, is by sentence of 
court-martial, or military connnission, to be executed soon on the 
30th instant, I think at Evansville. I have directed execution of 
the sentence to be suspended till further order. Please act accord- 
ingly. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 



395 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, October 25, 1863. 

General J . T. Boyle, Louisville, Ky. : 

Let the order suspending the execution of Long apply also to the 
case of Woolfolk. A. Lincoln. 



(Cypher) ExEcuTn-^E Mansion, 

Washington, D. C, October 28, 1863. 

Hon. Andrew Johnson, Nashville, Tenn. : 

If not too inconvenient, please come at once and have a personal 
conversation vpith me- A. Lincoln. 



Executre Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, October 29, 1863. 
T. J. Carter, New York : 

I made your appointment yesterday, and the Secretary of the 
Interior undertook to send it to you. I suppose it will reach you 
to-day. A. Lincoln. 

ExECUTrv'E Mansion, 
Washington, October 29, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac : 

I see in a newspaper that you have recently approved sentences 
of death for desertion of Thomas Sands, James Haley, H. H. Wil- 
liams, Mathias Brown, alias Albert Brown, H. C. Beardsley, and 
George F. Perkins. Several of these are persons in behalf of whom 
appeals have been made to me. Please send me a short statement 
of each one of the cases, stating the age of each, so far as you can. 

A. Lincoln. 

Hon. James W. Grimes. 

Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, Oct. 29, 1863. 

Hon. James W. Grimes. 

My Dear Sir : The above act of congi-ess was passed, as I sup- 
pose, for the purpose of shutting out improper applicants for seats 
in the House of Kepresentatives ; and I fear there is some danger 
that it will be used to shut out proper ones. Iowa, having an en- 
tire Union delegation, will be one of the States the attempt will 
be made, if upon any. The Governor doubtless has made out the 
certificates, and they are already in the hands of the members. I 
suggest that they come on with them; but that, for greater caution, 



396 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

you, and perhaps Mr. Harlan with you, consult with the Governor, 
and have an additional set made out according to the form on 
the other half of this sheet; and still another set, if you can, bj 
studying: the law, think of a form that in your judgment, promises 
additional security, and quietly bring the whole on with you, to 
be used in case of necessity. Let what you do be kept still. 

Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Hist. Dept. of Iowa. Loaned by Charles 
Aldrich, Des Moines, Iowa.) 

(Cypher) Executive Mansion, 

Washington, D. C, October 30, 1863. 

Hon. F. F. Lowe, San Francisco, Cal. : 

Below is an act of Congress, passed last session, intended to ex- 
clude applicants not entitled to seats, but which there is reason to 
fear, will be used to exclude some who are entitled. Please get with 
the Governor and one or two other discreet friends, study the act 
carefully, and make certificates in two or three forms, according to 
your best judgment, and have them sent to me, so as to multiply the 
chances of the delegation getting their seats. Let it be done with- 
out publicity. Below is a form which may answer for one. If yon 
could procure the same to be done for the Oregon member it might 
be well. A. Lincoln. 

Act to regulate the duties of the clerk of the House of Repre- 
sentatives in preparing for the Organization of the House. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Txo])resontatives of tlie 
United States of America, in Congress assembled. That, before the 
first meeting of the next Congress, and of every subsequent (Con- 
gress, the Clerk of the next preceding House of Representatives 
sbnll make a roll of the representatives elect nnd pliu-e thereon the 
names of all persons, and of siich persons only, whose credentials 
show that they were regularly elected in ju^cordance with the laws 
of their States respectively, or the law of the United States. 

Approved March 3, 1863. 

By His Excellency 

Governor of the State of California. 

T, , Governor of the State of California, do hereby 

certify and make known that the following persons, namely : 

Names. Districts. 

have been regularly elected members of the House of Representa- 
tives of the United States for the Thirty-eighth Congress, and for 



APPENDIX -^o- 

the districts above mentioned, in accordance with the laws of the 
said State and of the United States, and that they only have been 
so elected. 

IN TESTIMONY THEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand 
and caused the seal of the said State to be affixed. 



Secretary of State. 

ExEcuxrv'E Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, October 30, 18G3. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac : 

Much obliged for the information about deserters contained in 
your dispatch of yesterday, while I have to beg your pardon for 
troubling you in regard to some of them, when, as it appears by 
yours, I had the means of answering my own questions, 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, October 31, 18G3. 

Hon. Abram Waketman, New York : 

Ilanscom's dispatch just received. Have made careful inquiry 
as to the truth of assertions you refer to and find them unfoundetl. 
The provost-marshal-goiieral has issued no proclamation at all. He 
has in no form announced anything recently in regard to troops in 
New York, except in his letter to Governor Seymour of October 21, 
which has been published in the newspapers of that State. 

John Hay. 



War Department, 
Washington. H. C. October 31, 1863. 

Saint Nicholas Hotel Office, New York: 

Not knowing whether Colonel Parsons could be spared from duty 
elsewhere to come to Washington, I referred Governor Yates's dis- 
patch to the Secretary of War, who I presume still holds it under 
advisement. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C., October 31, 18G3. 

L. B. Todd, Lexington, Ky. : 

I sent the pass by telegraph more than ten days ago. Did you 
not receive it ? A. Lincoln. 



398 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, November 1, 1863. 

J. B. Sheppard, Harper's Ferry, Md. : 

Yours of this morning received, and the Secretary of War is at- 
tending to your request. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, November 1, 1863. 

Hon. W. H. Seward, Auburn, N. Y.: 

No important news. Details of Hooker's night fight do great- 
credit to his command, and particularly to the Eleventh Corps 
and Geary's part of the Twelfth. No discredit on any. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington City, November 3, 1863. 

Abram Kequa, New York: 

I know nothing whatever of Lieutenant Lobring, about whose 
case you telegraph. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington City, November 3, 1863. 

Hon. W. H. Seward, Auburn, N. Y. : 

Nothing new. Dispatches up to 12 last night from Chattanooga 
show all quiet and doing well. How is your son ? 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 3, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac: 

Samuel Wellers, private in Company B, Forty-ninth Pennsyl- 
vania Volunteers, writes that he is to be shot for desertion on the 
6th instant. His own story is rather a bad one, and yet he tells it 
80 frankly, that I am somewhat interested in him. Has he been 
a good soldier except the desertion ? About how old is he ? 

A. Lincoln. 

ExEcuTH'E Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, November 5, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac: 

Please suspend the execution of Samuel Wellers, Forty-ninth 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, until further orders. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 399 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington City, November 8, 1863. 

William B. Astor, Robert B. Rosevelt, New York : 

I shall be happy to give the interview to the committee as you 
request. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, November 9, 1863. 

Major Mulford, Fort Monroe: 

Let Mrs. Clark go with Mrs. Todd. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, November 10, 1863. 

General Sciiofield, Saint Louis, Mo. : 

1 see a dispatch here from Saint Louis, which is a little diTficult 
for me to understand. It says " Oeneral Schofield has refused 
leave of absence to members in military service to attend the lesr- 
islnture. All such are radical and administration men. The elec- 
tion of two Senatoi's from this place on Thursday will probably 
turn upon this thing." What does this mean? Of course members 
of the legislation must be allowed to attend its sessions. But 
how is there a session before the recent election returns are in ? 
And how is it to be at "this place" — and that -is Saint Louis? 
Please inform me. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, November 11, 1863. 

General Schofield, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

I believe the Secretary of War has telegraphed you about mem- 
bers of the legislation. At all events, allow those in the service 
to attend the session, and we can afterward decide whether they 
can stay through the entire session. A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) Execltive Mansion, 

Washington, D. C, November 11, 1863. 

Hon. Hiram Barney, New York: 

I would like an interview with you. Can you not come ? 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, November 11. 1863. 

John Milderborger, Peru, Ind. : 

I cannot comprehend the object of your dispatch. T do not often 
decline seeing people who call upon me, and probably will see you if 
you call. A. Lincoln. 



400 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 12, 1863. 

General Vaughan, or officer in command, Lexington, Mo.: 

Let execution of William H. Ogden be suspended until further 
order from me. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, November 13, 1863. 

E. H. & E. Jameson, Jefferson City, Mo.: 

Yours saying Brown and Henderson are elected senators is re- 
ceived. I understand this is one and one. If so it is knocking 
heads together to some purpose. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington City, November 16, 1863. 

Major-General Burnside, Knoxville, Tenn. : 
What is the news? A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 20, 1863. 

Maj'-r-General ScriENCK, Baltimore, Md. : 

It is my wish that neither Maynadier, nor Gordon be executed 
without my further order. Please act upon this. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, November 20, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac: 

If there is a man by the name of King under sentence to be 
shot, please suspend execution till further order, and send record. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 20, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac: 

An intelligent woman in deep distress, called this morning, saying 
her husband, a lieutenant in the Army of Potomac, was to be shot 
next Monday for desertion, and putting a letter in my hand, upon 
which I relied for particulars, she left without mentioning a nam(> 
or other particular by which to identify the case. On opening 
the letter T found it equally vague, having nothing to identify 
by, except h(>r own signature, which seems to be " Mrs. Anna S. 
King." T could not again find her. If you have a case which you 
shall think is probably the one intended, ulease apply my dispatch 
of this morning to it. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 401 

Executive Maxsiox, 
Washington, D. C, November 2;3, 1863. 

E. P. Evans, West Union, Adams County, Ohio : 

Yours to Governor Chase in behalf of John A. Wclcli is before 
me. Can there be a worse case than to desert and with IcttiM's 
persuading- others to desert? I cannot interpose without a better 
showing- than you make. When did he desert? When did he 
write the letters? A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 23, 18G3. 

Hon. Green Clay Smith, Covington, Ky. : 

I am told that John A. W(deh is under sentence as a deserter to 
be shot at Covington on the 11th of Deceml)pr. Please bring- a copy 
of the record and other facts of his case with you when you come. 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, November 24, 18G3. 

Military Officer in Command, Cincinnati, Ohio: 

Please suspend execution of sentence against E. A. Smith, until 
further order, meantime send me a copy of record of his trial. 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, November 25, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Com.manding Army of the Potomac: 

Suspend execution in case of Adolphus Morse, Seventy-sixth 
New Ycrk, deserter, and send record to me. A. Lincoln. 

November 25, 1863. 
Major-General Meade: 

The sentence in the case of Privt. Moses Giles, Comi)any B, 
Seventh Maine Volunteers, is suspended until further orders. 

A. Lincoln. 

December 2, 1863. 
Major-General Meade : 

The sentence in the case of Privt. H. Morris Husband, Ninety- 
ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers, (now of Third Army Corps First 
Division) is' suspended until further orders. Let the record le 
forwarded to me. ■^- Lincoln. 

(26) 



402 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 3, 1863. 
Major-General Meade: 

Please suspend executiou of Frederick Foster xmtil the record 
can be examined. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 3, 18o3. 
Major-General Meade: 

Governor Seymour especially asks that Isaac C. White sentenced 
to death for desertion be reprieved. I v?ish this done. 

A. Lincoln. 

Major-General Meade : 

The sentences in the cases of Brice Birdsill, private Company 
B, One hundred and twenty-fourth New York Volunteers, and 
Frederick Foster, of Ninety-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers, are 
suspended until further orders. Let the records be forwarded at 
once. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 3, 1863. 
Major-General Meade: 

I'lease suspend execution in case of William A. Gammon, 
Seventh Maine, and send record to me. A. Lincoln. 

Send by telegraph and oblige, yours very truly, 

John Hay- 

Major-General Meade: 

The sentences in the cases of Private John L. Keatly, and James 
Halter, Company I, Second Delaware Volunteers, are suspended 
until further orders. Let the records be at once forwarded. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 4, 1863 — 9 1-2 a. m. 

Mrs. a. Lincoln, Metropolitan, New York: 
All going well. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 5, 1863 — 10 a. m. 

Mrs. A. Lincoln, Metropolitan Hotel, New York: 
All doing well. A.. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 403 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, December 0, 1863. 

Mrs. a. Lincoln, Metropolitan Hotel, New York: 
All doing well. A. Lincoln. 

ExECUTrvE Mansion, 
Washington, December 7, 1863 — 10.20 a. m. 

Mrs. a. Lincoln, Metropolitan Hotel, New York: 

All doing well. Tad confidently expects you to-night. When 
will you come? A. Lincoln. 

Executfv'e Mansion, 
Washington, December 7, 1863 — 7 p. m. 

IMrs. a. Lincoln, Metropolitan Hotel, New York: 

Tad has received his book. The carriage shall be ready at G 
p. m. to-morrow. A. Lincoln. 

Charles P. Kirkland, New York. 

ExECUTrvE Mansion, Washington, Dec. 7, 1863. 

Charles P. Kirkland, Esq., New York. 

I have just received and have read your published letter to the 
Hon. Benjamin R. Curtis. Under the circumstances I may not be 
the most competent judge, but it appears to me to be a paper of 
great ability, and for the country's sake more than for my own I 
thank you for it. Yours very truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Miss Julia Kirkland, Utica, N. Y.) 

Executh'e Mansion, 
Washington, December 9, 1863. 
Judge Advocate-General : 

Colonel: The President desires me to request that you will 
order the execution of these men to be suspended until the records 
can be examined, using the President's signature to your dispatcli. 

Yours truly, John Ha v. 

Executive "AFansion, 
Washington, December 10, 1863. 

Major-General Butler, Port Monroe, Va. : 

Please suspend execution in any mid all sentences of death 
in your department until further orders. A. Lincoln. 



404 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, December 10, 1863. 

Officer in Military Command, Covington, Ky, : 

Let the execution of John A. Welch, under sentence to be shot 
for desertion to-morrow, be suspended until further order from here. 

A. Lincoln. 



December 11, 1863. 

BRiGADiER-GENERAii LoCKWOOD, Baltimore, Md.: 

The sentences in the cases of Privates William Irons, Company 
D, and Jesse Lewis, Company E, Fifth Maryland Volunteers, or- 
dered to be carried into execution to-day, is hereby suspended until 
further orders. A. Lincoln. 



(Cypher) Executive Mansion, 

Washington, December 11, 1863. 

General J. M, Schofield, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

Please come to see me at once. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 11, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Army of the Potomac: 

Lieut. Col. James B. Knox, Tenth Kegiment Pennsylvania Re- 
serves, offers his resignation under circumstances inducing me to 
wish to accept it. But I prefer to know your pleasure \ipon the 
subject. Please answer. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 12, 1863. 
Ma.ior-General Meade : 

Please suspend execution of sentence in case of William F. Good- 
win, Company B, Seventeenth Infantry, and forward the record 
for my examination. A. Lincoln. 



(Cypher) Executive Mansion, 

Washington, D. C, December 13, 1863. 

General J. M. Schofield, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

On the 11th I telegraphed asking you to come here and see me. 
Did you receive the dispatch? A. Lincx)LN. 



APPENDIX 405 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 14, 1863. 
Ma.tor-General Meadkt 

Please suspend execution in case of William Gibson, Fourth 
Maine Regiment until further order and send record. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 14, 1863. 
Ma.tor-General Meade: 

Please suspend execution of Lewis Beers, Fourteenth IT. S. In- 
fantry, and of William J. Hazlett, One hundred and nineteenth 
Peim8ylvania Volunteers and send record. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 15, 1863. 

Mother Mary Gonyeag, Superior, Academy of Visitation, Keokuk, 
Iowa : 

The President has no authority as to whether you may raffle for 
the benevolent object you mention. If there is no objection in the 
Iowa laws, there is none here. A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) Executive Mansion. 

Washington, D. C, December 17, 1863. 

Major-General Hurlbut, Memphis, Tenn. : 

I understand you have under sentence of death, a tall old man, 
by the name of Henry F. Luckett. I personally knew him, and 
did not think him a bad man. Please do not let him be executed 
unless upon further order from me, and in the meantime send me a 
transcript of the record. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, December 21, 1863. 

Governor Pierpoint, Alexandria, Va. : 
Please come up and see me to-day. A. Lincoln. 

Executfve Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, December 21, 1863. 

Major-General Butler, Fort Monroe, Va.: 

It is said that William H. Blake is under sentence of death nt 
Fort Magruder, in your department. Do not let him be executed 
without further order from me. and in the meantime have the 
record sent me. He is said to belong to the First or Second Penn' 
sylvania Artillery. A. Lincoln. 



406 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 22, 1863. 

Military Commander, Point Lookout, Md. : 

If you have a prisoner by the name Linder — Daniel Linder, I 
think, and certainly the son of U. F. Linder, of Illinois, please 
send him to me by an officer. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, December 24, 1863. 

Military Commander, Point Lookout, Md. : 

If you seiid Linder to mo as directed a day or two ago, also 
send Edwin G. Claybrook, of Ninth Virginia rebel cavalry. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, December 26, 1863. 

Hon. TI. F. Linder, Chicago, 111.: 

Your son Dan has just left me with my order to the Secretary of 
War, to administer to him the oath of allegiance, discharge bin. 
and send him to you. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 26, 1863. 

Major-General Burnside, Providence, R. L: 

Yours in relation to Privates Eaton and Burrows, of the Sixth 
New Hampshire, is received. When you reach here about New 
Year, call on me and we will fix it up, or I will do it sooner if you 
say so. A. Lincoln. 

ExECUTn'E IMansion, 
Washington, December 26, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Army of the Potomac : 

If Christopher Delker, of the Sixty-first Pennsylvania Volun« 
teers, is under sentence of death, do not execute him till further 
order. Whenever it shall bo (juite convenient T shall be glad to 
have a conference with you about this class of cases. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, December 29, 1863. 

Major-General Burnside, Providence, R. I.: 

You may telegraph Eaton and Burrows that these cases will be 
disposed of according to your request when you come to Wash- 
ington ^ Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 407 

ExECUTrv'E Mansion, 
Washington, December 20, 1863. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac: 

I am appealed to in behalf of Joseph Richardson of Forty-ninth 
Pennsylvania, and Moses Cliadbourne, (in some New Ilampsliiro 
Regiment) said to be under sentence for desertion. As in other 
cases do not let them, be executed until further order. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 30, 1863. 

General Boyle, Louisville, Ky.: 

It is said that Corporal Robert L. Crowell, of Company E, Twen- 
tieth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, is under sentence to be shot 
on the 8th of January at Louisville. Do not let the sentence be 
executed until further order from me. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, December 30, 1863. 

Major-General Butler, Fort Monroe, Va. : 

Jacob Bowers is fully pardoned for past offence, upon condition 
that he returns to duty and re-enlists for tlu-ee years or during 
the war. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, January 1, 1864 — 3.30 p. m. 

General Sollivan, Harper's Ferry: 

Have you anything new from Winchester, Martinsburg or there- 
abouts? A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, January 2, 1864. 

Governor Pierpoint, Alexandria, Va.: 

Please call and see me to-day if not too inconvenient. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive ^Iaxsion,. 
Washington, January 3, 1864. 

Major-General Hurlbut, Memphis, Tomi.: 

Suspend execution of sentence of Privt. Peter Fingle of Four- 
teenth Iowa Volunteers, and forward record of trial for examina- 
tion. ^- I-i^^coLN. 



4o8 l-IFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 3, 1864. 
Major-General Meade: 

Suspend the execution of Prvt. Joseph Richardson, Forty-ninth 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, who is sentenced to be shot to-morrow, 
and forward record of trial for examination. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send above dispatch. Jno. G. Nicolay. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, January 5, 1864. 

Mrs. Lincoln, Continental Hotel, Philadelphia, Pa. : 

All very well. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, January 5, 1864. 

General Boyle, Camp Nelson, Ky. : 

Execution in the cases of Burrow and Eaton is suspended, as 
stated by General Burnside. Let this be taken as an order to that 
effect. I do not remember receiving any appeal in behalf of God- 
dard, Crowell, Prickett, or Smith, and yet I may have sent a 
dispatch in regard to some of them. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 5, 1864. 
Major-General Me-\de : 

If not inconsistent with the service, please allow General Wil- 
liam Harrow as long a leave of absence as the rules permit with the 
understanding that I may lengthen it if I see fit. He is an acquaint- 
ance and friend of mine, and his family matters very urgently 
require his presence. A. Lincoln, 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, January 6, 1864. 

General Boyle, Camp Nelson, Ky. : 

Let execution in the cases of Goddard, Crowell, Prickett, and 
Smith, mentioned by you be suspended till further order. 

A. Lincoln. 

Exp:cutive Mansion, 
Washington, January 7, 1864. 

Mrs. a. Lincoln, Philadelphia, Pa. : 

We are all well and have not been otherwise. A. Lincoln. 



. APPENDIX 409 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, January 7, 1864. 

Officer in Command, Covington, Ky. : 

The death sentence of Henry Andrews is commuted to impris- 
onment at hard labor during the remainder of the war. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, January 9, 1864. 

Hon. Simon Cameron, Harrisburg, Pa.: 

Your two letters one of the 6th and the other of the 7th both 
received. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 11, 1864. 

R. T. Lincoln, Cambridge, Mass.: 

T send you draft to-day. How are you now ? Answer by tclc' 
graph at once. A. Lincoln. 



Executive IMansion, 
Washington, January 12, 1864. 

Governor 0. P. Morton, Indianapolis, Ind. : 

I have telegraphed to Chattanooga suspending execution of Wil- 
liam Jeffries until further order from me. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, J;nui;.r,v 12. 1864. 

Ma.tor-General Grant or Ma.ior-General Thomas, Chadannnga, 
Tenn. : 
Let execution of the death sentence upon Williiiin Jeffries, of 
Company A, Sixth Indiana Volunteers, b« susponded until further 
order from here. ^'^- Lincoln. 

ExECtTTTVE ^FaNSION, 

Washington, January 1^, 1864. 

Major-General Butler, Fortress ]\lonro(\ Va,: 

Let Wilson B, Kevas, Third Pennsylvania Artillery, bo respited 
until further orders. A. Lincoln. 



410 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, January 14, 1864. 

Major-General Meade, Army of the Potomac: 

Suspend execution of the death sentence in the case of Allen G. 
Maxson, corporal in Company D, in First Michigan Volunteers, 
until further order. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 15, 1864. 

Governor Brough, Colvunbus, Ohio: 

If Private William G. Toles, of Fifty-ninth Ohio Volunteers, 
returns to his regim'^nt and faithfully serves out his term, he is 
fully pardoned for all military offenses prior to this. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 16, 1864. 

General Sullivan, Harper's Ferry: 

Please state to me the reasons of the arrest of Capt. William 
Firey, of Major Coles' battalion, at Charlestown. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, January 16, 1864. 

Major-GenerAl, Meade or Major-General Sedgwick, Army of the 
Potomac : 
Suspend execution of death sentence of Joseph W. Clifton, of 
Sixth New Jersey Volimteers, until further order. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 19, 1864. 

Col. John Clark, Third Regiment of Pennsylvania Reserves, Al- 
exandria, Va. : 
Where is John Wilson, under sentence of desertion, of whom you 
wrote Hon. Mr. Thayer yesterday? A. Lincoln 

Executh'e Mansion, 
Washington, January 19, 1864. 

R. T. Lincoln, Cambridge, Mass.: 

There is a good deal of small-pox here. Your friends mug\ 
judge for themselves whether they ought to com^ or not. 

A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 411 

Major Eckert: 
Please send above dispatch; . Jno. G. Nicolay. 



Executive Mansiox, 
Washington^ D. C, January 20, 1864. 

Major-General Butler, Eort Monroe: 

Please suspend executions until further order, in the cases of 
Private Henry Wooding, of Company C, Eighth Connecticut Vol- 
unteers, and Private Albert A. Lacy, of Company H, Fourth Rhode 
Island Volunteers. A, Lin'coln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, January 20, 1804. 

Major-General Butler: 

If Henry C. Fuller, of Company C, One hundred and eighteenth 
New York Volunteers, under sentence of death for desertion, has 
not beeu executed, suspend his execution until further order. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 20, 1864. 

Major-General, js'edgwick. Army of the Potomac: 

Please suspend execution of John Wilson, of Seventy-first Penn- 
sylvania, under sentence for desertion, till further order. 

A. Lincoln. 



ExECUTHE Mansion, 
Washington, January 20, 1864. 
Major-General Sedgwick : 

Suspend execution till further order in case of Private Jamos 
Lane, Company B, Seventy-first New York Volunteers. 

A. Lincoln. 



ExEciiTm: Mansion, 
Washington, January 22, 1864. 

Military Commander, Fort Independence : 

Suspend until further order execution of Charles R. Belts, of 
Twelfth Massachusetts, and send me the record of his trial. 

A. Lincoln. 



412 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 23, 1864. 

Maj. Gen. C. C. "Washbubne, Care of C. & G. Woodman, No. 33 
Pine street. New York City : 

Your brother wishes you to visit Washington, and this is your 
authority to do so. A. Lincoln. 

ExECUTFVE Mansion, 
Washington, January 25, 1864. 
Major-General Meade: 

Suspend execution of sentence Samuel Tyler, of Company G, 
Third Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, iu First Brigade, First 
Division, Sixth Corps, and forward record for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 
Major Eckert: 

Please send above dispatch Jno. G. Nicolay. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 25, 1864. 
Major-General Meade: 

Suspend execution of death sentence of Robert Gill, ordered to be 
shot on the 29th instant, and forward record for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 
Major Eckert: 

Please send above dispatch. Jno. G. Nicolay. 

ExECUTrvE Mansion, 
Washington, January 26, 1864. 

Major-General Butler, Fort Monroe: 

Some days ago a dispatch was sent to stay execution of James 
C. Grattan, and perhaps some others, which has not been answered. 
Please answer. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 26, 1864. 
Major-General Sedgwick : 

Your letter of January 22, received. Suspend execution of sen- 
tence in all the capital cases mentioned in General Orders ^n^o. 1 
and 2, where it has not already been done. I recapitulate the 
whole list of capital cases mentioned in said orders including those 
cases in which execution has been heretofore, as well as those on 
which it is now suspended. 

Private John Wilson, Company D, Seve?ity-first Pennsylvania; 
Private James Lane, Company B, Seventy-first New York; Pri« 



APPENDIX 41. 

t'ate Joseph W. Clifton, Company F, Sixth New Jorsoy; Private 
ira Smith, Company i. Eleventh Kew Jersey; Private Allen (J. 
Maxson, Company D, First Michigan; Private John Keatly, Com- 
pany I, Second Delaware; Private Daniel P. Byrnes, Company A, 
Ninety-eighth Pennsylvania; Private Samuel Tyler, Company G, 
Third New Jersey; Private Kobert Gill, Company D, Sixth New 
York Cavalry. 
Forward the records in these cases for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 
Major Eckert: 

Please send above dispatch. Jno. G. Nicolay. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, January 27, 1864. 

Major-General Foster, Knoxville, Tenn. : 

Is a supposed correspondence between General Longstreet a&a 
yourself about the amnesty proclamation, w^hich is now in the 
newspapers genuine? A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 28, 1864. 

To the Commanding Officer at Fort Preble, Portland, Me.: 

Suspend the execution of death sentence of Charles Caple, initil 
further orders, and forward record for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send above dispatch. I infer fi-om the let tor on which 
the reprieve is granted that Fort Preble is in M;iiiie, l>ut do not 
certainly know. Please inquire of Colonel Hardee. As tlic execu- 
tion was set for to-morrow, it is important that tlic dispatcli sliould 
go at once. Jno. G. Nkolav. 

Private Secretary. 

ExECUTn'E IFansion, 
Washington, January 28, 1864. 

Commanding Officer, Fort Mifflin: 

Suspend execution of death sentence of Bernard Dcvelin, Com- 
pany E, Eighty-iir^At Pennsylvania Volunteers, until further orders, 
and forward record for examination. A. Li.n'coln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send above dispatch. Jno. G. Nicolay, 

Private Secretary. 



414 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

ExECUTiTE Mansion, 
Washington, January 28, 1864. 

Hon, Edward Stanley, San Francisco, Cal. : 

Yours of yesterday received. We have rumors similar to the 
dispatch received by you, but nothing- very definite from North 
CaroHna, Knowing Mr. Stanley to be an able man. and not doubt- 
ing that he is a patriot, I should be glad for him to be with his 
old acquaintances south of Virginia, but I am unable to suggest 
anything deliuite upon the subject A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 29, 1864. 

Major-General Sickles, New York : 

Could you, without it being inconvenient or disagreeable to 
yourself, immediately take a trip to Arkansas for me ? 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C., January 29, 1864. 

Major-General Sedgwick, Army of Potomac ; 

Suspend execution of George Sowers, Company E, Fourth Ohio 
Volunteers, and send record. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D C., January 31, 1864. 

Governor Bramlette, Frankfort, K3\ ■- 

General Boyle's resignation is accepted, so that your Excel- 
lency can give him the appointment proposed A, Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 1, 1864. 

Major-General Dix, New York : 

Suspend execution of death sentence of Frank W. Parker, of 
one of the Maine regiments, sentenced to l>e shot for desertion 
on the 5th instant, and forward record for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert : 

Please send above dispatch- JfNO. G. Nicolay, 

Private Secretary. 



APPENDIX 



415 



Executive ]\rAXsioN, 
Washington^ February 3, 18G4. 

Governor Yates^ Springfield, 111.: 

The U. S. Government lot in Springfield can bo used for a sol- 
diers' home, with the understanding that the Government doea 
not incur any expense in the case. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 6, 1864. 

Commanding Officer at Sandusky, Ohio : 

Suspend the execution of death sentence of George Samuel 
Goodrich, Jr., One liuudred and twenty-second Kegimeut iS'ew 
York Volunteers, and forward record for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 
Major Eckert: 

Send above dispatch. Jno. G. Nicola y. 

Private Secretary. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 8, 18G4. 

Commanding Officer, Portland, Me., care of Israel Washburne, Jr.: 
Suspend execution of death sentence of James Taylor until fur- 
ther orders, and forward record of trial for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send above dispatch. Jno. G. Nicolay, 

Private Secretary. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 8, 1SG4. 
Major-General Sedgwick : 

Suspend execution of death sentence of James Taylor until fur- 
ther orders and forward record of trial for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send above dispatch. J^'O. G. Nicola y, 

Private Secretary. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, February 10, 1864. 

Governor Brough, Columbus, Ohio : 

Eobert Johnson, mentioned by you, is hereby fully pardoned 
for any supposed desertion up to date. A. Lincoln- 



4i6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, February 10, 1864> 

IIajor-General Sickles, New York: 

Please come ou at yoiir earliest convenieuxje, prei>ared to niak« 
the contemplated trip for me. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 11, 1864. 

Major-General Sedgwick, Army of Potomac: 

Unless there be strong reason to the contrary, please send Gen- 
eral Kilpatriek to us here, for two or three days. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 12, 1864. 

Military Commander, Boston, Mass. : 

If there is anywhere in your fommand a man by the name of 
James Taylor under sentence of death for desertion, suspem. ex- 
ecution till further order. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 12, 1864. 

Major-General Dix, New York: 

If there is anywhere in your command a man by the name of 
James Taylor under sentence of death for desertion, suspend exe- 
cution till further order. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion. 
Washington, February 17, 1864. 

Major-General Steele, Little Rock, Ark.: 

The day fixed by the convention for the election is probably 
the best, but you on the ground, and in consultation with gen- 
tlemen there, are to decide. I should have fixed no day for an 
election, presented no plan for reconstruction, had I known the 
convention was doing the same things. It is probably best that 
you merely assist the convention on their own plan, as to election 
day and all other matters. I have already written and telegraphed 
this half a dozen times. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 18, 1864. 
A. Robinson, Leroy, N. Y. : 

The law only obliges us to keep accounts with States, or at most, 
Congressional Districts, and it would overwhelm us to attempt 



APPENDIX 41; 

in counties, cities and towns. Nevertheless we rln wliat we can 
to oblige in particular cases. In this view I send your dispatch 
to the provost-marshal general, asking him to do the best he can 
for you. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 

February 19, 1864. 

Commander George S. Blake, Commandant Naval Academy, New- 
port, E. I. : 

I desire the case of Midshipman C. Lyon re-examined and if not 
clearly inconsistent I shall be much obliged to have the recom- 
mendation changed. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington^ February 22, 1864. 

His Excellency Governor Brough, Columbus, Ohio: 

As you request Clinton Fulton charged as a deserter is pardoned. 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, February 22, 1864. 

Major-General Steele, Little Rock, Ark.: 

Yours of yesterday received. Your conference with citizens 
approved. Let the election be on the 14tli of March as they agreed. 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department. 
Washington, D. C, February 22, 1864. 

Major-General Rosecrans, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

Colonel Sanderson will be ordered to you to-day, a ineiv omis- 
sion that it was not done before. The other questions in your dis- 
patch I am not yet prepared to answer. A. Lincoln. 

Executive l\rANsioN, 
Washington, February 25, 1864. 

Commanding Officer, Johnson's Island : 

Suspend execution of death sentence of John ]\rarrs until fur* 
ther orders and forward record for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 
Major Eckert : 

Please send the above dispatch. Jno. G. Xicolay. 

(27) Private Secretaiy. 



41 8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 26, 1864. 

Major-General Butler, Fort Monroe, Va. : 

I cannot remember at whose request it was that I gave the pass 
to Mrs. Bulkly. Of course detain her, if the evidence of her being 
a spy is strong against her. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 26, 1864. 



Major-General Butler, Fort Monroe: 

If it has not ah-eady been done, suspend execution of death sen- 
tence of William K. Stearns, Tenth New Hampshire Volunteers, 
until further orders and forward record. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send the above dispatch. Jno. G. Nicolay, 

Private Secretary. 

W. -Tayne. 

Executive Mansion, Washington, February 26, 1864. 

Hon. W. Jayne. 

Dear Sir: I dislike to make changes in office so long as they 
can be avoided. It multiplies my embarrassments immensely. I 
dislike two appointments when one will do. Send me the name 
of some man not the present marshal, and I will nominate him to 
be Provost Marshal for Dakota. Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Dr. William Jayne, Springfield, 111.) 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 27, 1864. 

Ma.t. Gen. George H. Thomas, Department of Cumberland: 

Suspend execution of death sentence of F. W. Laufcrsoick, first 
corporal, Company D, One hundred and sixth Kegiment Ohio Vol- 
unteers, until further orders, and forward record for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 
Major Eckert: 

Please send the above dispatch. Jno. G. Nicolay, 

Private Secretary. 

Executh'e Mansion, 
Washington, February 29, 1864. 

Major-General Dix, New York: 

Do you advise that John McKee, now in military confinement 
at Fort Lafayette, be turned over to the civil authorities? 

A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 4,9 

ExECUTWE Mansion, 
Washington, March 2, 1864, 

Officer in Command, Knoxville, Tenn. : 

Allow Mrs. Anne Maria Kumsey, with her six daughters to go 
to her father. Judge Brcck, at Kiclunoud, Ivy. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, March 2, 1864. 
Judge D. Breck, Richmond, Ky. : 

I have directed the officer at Knoxville to allow Mrs. Rumsey 
to come to you. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, March 2, 1864. 
Major-General Meade: 

Suspend execution of the death sentence of James Whelan, One 
hundred and sixteenth Pennsylvania Volunteers, until further 
orders and forward record for examination. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send the above dispatch. Jno. G. Nicolay, 

Private Secretary. 

War DEPARTSfENT, 

Washington, D. C., March 3, 1864. 
Major-General Steele, Little Rock, Ark. : 

Yours including address to people of Arkansas is received. I 
approve the address and thank you for it. Yours in relation to 
Willard M. Randolph also received. Let him take the oath of De- 
cember 8, and go to work for the new constitution, and on your 
notifying me of it, I will immediately issue the special pardon for 
him. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, March 4, 1864. 

Major-General Butler, Port Monroe, Va. : 

Admiral Dahlgreen is here, and of course is very anxious about 
his son. Please send me at once all you know or can learn of his 
fate. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, IMarch 7, 1864. 
TJ. S. Marshal, Louisville, Ky, : 

Until further order suspend sale of property and further pro- 
ceedings in cases of the United States against Dr. John B. English, 



^20 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

and S. S. English, et al. sureties for John L. Hill, Also same 
against same sureties for Thomas A. Ireland. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send the above dispatch. Jno. G. Nicolay, 

Private Secretary. 

Executive Mansion^ 
Washington, March 9, 1864. 

Major-General Butler, Fort Monroe, Va. : 

What are the facts about the imprisonment of Joseph A. Bilisoly ? 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, March 9, 1864. 

Major-Geneual Meade, Army of Potomac: 

New York City votes 9,500 majority for allowing soldiers to vote, 
and the rest of the State nearly all on the same side. Tell the 
soldiers. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, March 14, 1864. 

Major-General Butler, Fort Monroe, Va. : 

First lieutenant and adjutant of Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers, 
Edward P. Brooks, is a prisoner of war at Richmond, and if you 
can without difficulty, effect a special exchange for him, I shall be 
obliged. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, March 17, 1864. 

Major-General Rosecrans, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

Suspend execution of death sentence of John F. Abshier, citizen, 
until further orders. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send the above dispatch. Jno. G. Nicola y. 

Private Secretary. 

Executive Mansion., 
Washington, March 22, 1864. 

Major-General Butler, Fort "^fonroe, Va.: 

Hon. W. R. Morrison says he has requested you by letter to 
effect a special exchange of Lieut. Col. A. F. Rogers, of Eightieth 
Illinois Volunteers, now in Libby Prison, and I shall be glad if you 
can effect it. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 42 J 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, March 22, 1864. 

Governor Evans, Denver, Col. Ter. : 

Colorado Enabling Act was signed yesterday by the President. 

j no. g. a' kola y. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, March 23, 1864. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac: 

Please suspend execution of Alanson Orton, under sentence for 
desertion, until further order. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, March 24, 1864. 

Major-General Butler, Port Monroe, Va. : 

Please, if you can, effect special exchanges for J. F. Robinson, 
first lieutenant. Company E, Sixty-seventh Pennsylvania Volun- 
teers, and C. L. Edmunds, first lieutenant. Company D, Sixty- 
seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 

March 24, 1864. 
Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac: 

Do not change your purpose to send Private Orton, of Twelfth 
U. S. Infantry, to the Dry Tortugas. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, March ;}0, 1864. 

Hon. R. M. Corwine, New York : 

It does not occur to me that you can present the Smitli case any 
better than you have done. Of this, however, you must judge for 
yourself. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, April 5, 1864. 

His Excellency John Brough, Columbus, Ohio: 

The President has ordered the pardon of the soldiers of the 
Twelfth Ohio, in accordance with your request. John Hay. 

(This letter does appear in the Life by J. G. Nicolay and John 
Hay.) 

(Cypher) Executive Mansion, 

Washington, April 6, 1864. 

Major-General Butler, Portress Monroe. Va. : 

The President directs me to acknowledge receipt of your dia^ 



422 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

patch of this morning and to say that you will submit by letter 
or telegram to the Secretary of War tlie points in relation to the 
exchange of prisoners wherein you wish instructions, and that it i3 
not necessary for you to visit Washington for the purpose indi- 
cated. John Hay,, 

Major and Assistant Adjutant-General. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington,, April 9, 1864. 

Major-General Meade, Army of the Potomac: 

Suspend execution of Private William Collins, Company B, 
Sixty-ninth New York Volunteers, Irish Brigade, and class him 
with other suspended cases. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Wasiiinoton, D. C, April 11, 1864 — 6.15 p. m. 

Hon. W. H. Seward, Astor House, New York: 

Nothing of importance since you left. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, April 12, 1864. 

Major-General Butler, Fort Monroe, Va.: 

I am pressed to get from Libby, by special exchange, Jacob C. 
Hagenbuck, first lieutenant, Company H, Sixty-seventh Pennsyl- 
vania Volunteers. Please do it if you can without detriment or 
embarrassment. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, April 17, 1864. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac : 

Private William Collins of Company B, of the Sixty-ninth New 
York Volunteers, has been convicted of desertion, and execution 
suspended as in nmnerous other cnses. Now Ca])tain O'Neill, 
conunanding the regiment, and nearly all its other regimental and 
company officers, petition for his full pardon and restoration to his 
company. Is there any good objection? A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, April 18, 1864. 

CoL. Paul Frank, of New York Fifty-second, Army of Potomac: 
Is there or has there been a man in your regiment by the name of 
Cornelius Garoin ? And if so, answer me as far as you know where 
he now is. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX p. 

Executive ^Ia.\sio>;, 
Washington^ April 20, 1SG4. 

Calvin Truesdale, Esq., Postmaster, Kock Island, 111.: 

Thomas J. Pickett, late agent of the Quartermaster's Department 
for the island of Eot-k Island, has been removed or suspended I'loiii 
that position on a charjio of having- sold timber and stone fi-om ihe 
island for his private bcnetit. Mv. Pickett is an old acciuaiiiliuice 
and friend of mine, and 1 will thank you, if you will, to set a day 
or days and place on and at which to take testiniony on the point. 
Notify Mr. Pickett and one J. B. Danforth (who as I understand 
makes the charge) to be present with- their witnesses. 'j\d:e tli'^ 
testimony in writing offered by both sides, and report it in full to 
me. Please do this for me. Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(From Herndon's " Life of Lincoln.*' Permission of Jessy AVcik.) 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, April 20, 1864. 

Officer in Military Command, at Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, 
Mass. : 

If there is a man by tlie name of Chaides Carpenter, luider sen- 
tence of death for desertion, at Fort Warren, suspend execution 
until further order and send the reenrd of his trial. If sentenced 
for any other offence, telegraph what it is, and when lie is to bo 
executed. Answer at all events. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, April 21, 1S64, 

Officer in Military Command, at Fort Warren, Boston J I arbor, 
Mass. : 

The order I sent yesterday in i-egard to Charles Carpenter is 
hereby withdrawn, and you are to act as if it had never existed. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive ]\Lvnsion, 
Washington, D. C, April 21, 1864. 

Major-General Dix, New York: 

Yesterday I was induced to telegraph the officer in military com- 
mand at Fort Warren, Boston IIarl)()r, ]\Inss., sus])endiiig tlie 
execution of Charles Carpenter, to be executed to-morrow for de- 
sertion. Just now on reading your order in thc^ <'ase. I t(dograi)lied 
the same officer withdrawing the sus])ension, and leaving the case 
entirely with you. The man's friends are pressing me. but I refer 
them to you, intending to take no further action myself. 

A. Lincoln. 



424 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



War DEPARTMEN-i-, 

Washington, D. C, April 22, 1864. 

Brioadier -General Brayman, Commanding Cairo: 

What day did General Corse part with General Banks? 

A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, April 22, 1S64. 

A. G. Hodges, Esq., Frankfort, Ky.: 

Did you receive my letter ? A. Lincoln. 



ExECUTrvE Mansion, 
Washington, April 23, 1864. 

M ajor-General Butler, Fort Monroe, Va. : 

Senator Ten Eyck is very anxious to have a special exchange 
of Capt. Frank J. McLean, of Ninth Tennessee Cavalry now, or 
lately at Johnson's Island, for Capt. T. Ten Eyck, Eighteenth 
U. S. Infantry, and now at Kichmond. I would like to have it 
done. Can it be? A. Lincoln. 



War Depart]mext, 
Washington City, April 25, 1864. 

John Williams, Springfield, 111.: 

Yours of the 15th is just received. Thanks for your kind re- 
membrance. I would accept your offer at once, were it not that 
I fear there might be some impropriety in it, though I do not 
see that there would. I will think of it a while. 

A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington City, April 25, 1864. 

Ma.tor-Genrral Meade, Army of Potomac : 

A Mr. Corby brought you a note from me at the foot of a peti- 
tion I believe, in the case of Dawson, to be executed to-day. The 
record has been examined hero, and it shows too strong a case 
for a pardon or commutation, unless tliere is somctliing in the poor 
man's favor outside of the record, wliich you on the gi-ound nuiy 
know, but I do not. My note to you only means that if you know 
of any such thing rendering a suspension of the execution projier, 
on your own judgment, you are at liberty to suspend it. Otlierwise 
I do not interfere. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 425 

EXECUTU'E MaNSIOX, 

Washington, April 20, 1864, 

Major-General ThOxMas, Chattanooga, Tenn. : 

Suspend execution of death sentence of young Perry from Wis- 
consin, condemned for sleeping on his post, until further orders, 
and forward record for examination. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, April 27, 1864. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac : 

John J. Stefke, Company 1, First New Jersey Cavalry, having 
a substitute, is ordered to be discharged. Please have him sent 
here to Washington. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, April 27, 1864. 

Major-General Meade^ Army of Potomac : 

Your dispatch about Private Peter Gilner received. Dispose of 
him precisely as you would under the recent order, if he were 
under sentence of death for desertion, and execution suspended 
by me. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 

Washington, x\pril 28, 1864. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac: 

If Private George W. Sloan, of the Seventy-second Pennsyl- 
vania Volunteers, is under sentence of death for desertion, suspend 
execution till further order. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, April 29, 1864. 
General Brayman, Cairo, 111.: 

I am appealed to in behalf of O. Kellogg, and J. W. Pryor, both 
in prison at Cairo. Please telegraph me what are the charges and 
summary of evidence against them. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, April 30, 1864. 

Officer in Command, at Little Rock, Ark.: 

Please send me the recoi-d of trial for desertion of Thadeus A. 
Kinsloe of Company D, Seventh Missouri Voliuitter Cavali-y. 

' A. Lincoln, 



420 i-lFE OF ivINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, May 5, 1864. 

Major-Geneual Rosecrans, Commanding, &c.. Saint Louis, Mo.: 

The President directs me to inquire whether a day has yet been 
fixed for the execution of citizen Robert Louden, and if so what 
day? John Hay, 

Major and Assistant Adjutant-General. 

Executive Mansion, Washington, May 9, 1864. 

Mrs. Sarah B. Meconkey, West Chester, Pa. 

Madam : Our mutual friend. Judge Lewis tells me you do me the 
honor to inquire for my personal welfare. I have been very anx- 
ious for some days in regard to our armies in the held, but am 
considerably cheered, just now, by favorable news from them. I 
am sure that you will join me in the hope for their further suc- 
cess; while yourself, and other good mothers, wives, sisters, and 
daughters, do all you and they can, to relieve and comfort the gal- 
lant soldiers who compose them. Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by Columbia University Library.) 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, ^lay 10, 1864. 

Major-General Wallace, Baltimore: 

Please tell me what is the trouble with Dr. Hawks. Also please 
ask Bishop Whittington to give me his view of the case. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, May 14, 1864. 

Officer in Military Comimand at Fort Monroe, Va. : 

If Thomas Dorerty, or Welsh, is to be executed to-day and it is 
not already done, suspend it till further order. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washix(;t()N, May 17, 1864. 

Officer in Command at Fort Monroe, Va. : 

If there is a man by the nnrne of William H. IT. Cummings, of 
Company IL Twenty-fourtli ^lassiu-husetts Voluiiteors, within 
your command under sentence of death for desei-tidii, suspend 
execution till further order. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 427 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, iMay 18, 18G4. 

His Excellency Kichard Yates, Springfield, III: 
If any such i^roclamatiou has appeared, it is a forgery, 

A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, May 19, 1864. 

Hon. Andrew Johnson, Nashville, Tenn. : 

Yours of the 17th was received yesterday. Will write you on 
the subject within a day or two. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, May 20, 18G4. 

Felix Schmedding, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

The pleasure of attending your fair is not within my power. 

A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington City, May 21, 1864. 

Mr. Stansbury, TJ. S. Sanitary Commission : 

Principal Musician John A. Burke. Fourteenth TJ. S. Infantry, 
has permission to accompany Capt. W. R. Smedburg, Fourteenth 
Infantry (wounded) to New York. A. Lincoln. 



War Departmeni, 
Washington, D. C, May 21, 1864. 

Christiana A. Sack, Baltimore, Md. : 

I cannot postpone the execution of a convicted spy on a mere 
telegraphic dispatch signed with a name I never heard before. 
General Wallace may give you a pass to see him if he chooses. 

A. Lincoln 



War Depart^ient, 

May 23, 18G4. 
To the Co]mmanding Officer at Fort Monroe : 

Is a man named Henry Sack to be executed to-morrow at noon? 
If so, when was he condemned and for what offense ? 

A. Lincoln. 



428 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, May 24, 1864. 

To the Commanding Officer at Fort Monroe, Va.: 

Let the execution of Henry Sack be suspended. I have com- 
muted his sentence to imprisonment during the vi'ar. 

A. Lincoln. 
Major Eckert: 

Please send this "t once. Yours, 

John Hay, 
Major and Assistant Adjutant-General. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, May 25, 1864. 

Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac: 

Mr. J. C. Swift wishes a pass from me to follow your army to 
pick up rags and cast off clothing. I will give it to him if you 
say so, otherwise not. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, May 30, 1864. 

Colonel Button, Old Point Comfort, Va. : ^ 

Colonel Button is permitted to come from Fort Monroe to Wash- 
ington. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, May 31, 1864. 

Major-General Hurlbut, Belvidere, 111. : 

You are hereby authorized to visit Washington and Baltimore. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, June 4, 1864. 

Major-General Bix, New York: 

Please inform me whether Charles H. Scott, of Eighth U. S. In- 
fantry, is under sentence of death in your department? and if so 
when to be executed and what are the features of the case ? 

A. Lincoln. 

Executr'e Mansion, 
Washington, June 6, 1864. 

Major-General Meade, Army of the Potomac: 

Private James McCarthy, of the One hundred and fortieth New 
York Volunteers, is here under sentence to the Bry Tortugas foT 



APPENDIX 42g 

an attempt to desert. His friends appeal to me and if his colonel 
and you consent, I will send him to his regiment. Please answer. 

A. Lincoln. 

War Departjiext, 
Washington, June 7, ISG-i. 

Major-General Rosecrans, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

When your communication shall be ready send it by express. 
There will be no danger of its miscarriage. A. Lincoln. 

Washington, D. C, June 13, 1864. 

Thomas Webster, Philadelphia: 

Will try to leave here Wednesday afternoon, say at 4 p. m. re- 
main till Thvu'sday afternoon and then return. This subject to 
events. A. Lincoln. 

Washington, June 18, 1864. 

C. A. Walborn, Post Master Philadelphia: 

Please come and see me in the next day or two. 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, June 19, 1804. 

Mrs. A. Lincoln, Pifth Avenue Hotel, New York: 

Tad arrived safely and all well. A. Lincoln. 

Washington, D. C, June 27, 1864. 
Colonel Bascom, Assistant Adjutant-General, Knoxville, Tenn.: 
Please suspend sale of the property of Rogers & Co., until fur- 
ther order. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, June 28, 1864. 

Officer in Command at Port Monroe, Va. : 

Is there a man by the name of Amos Tennoy in your command, 
tmder sentence for desertion? and if so suspend execution and send 
me the record. ^^- Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, June 29, 1864. 

Lieutenant-General Grant, City Point: 

Dr. Worstei wishes to visit you with a view of getting your 
permission to introduce into the army " Harmon's Sandal Sock. ' 
Shall I give him a pass for that object ? A. Lincoln. 



430 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, July 9, 1864. 

Major-General Rosecrans, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

When did the Secretary of War telegraph you to release Dr, 
Barrett ? If it is an old thing let it stand till you hear further. 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 

July 20, 1864. 
J. L. Wright, Indianapolis, Ind. : 

All a mistake. Mr. Stanton has not resigned. 

A. Lincoln. 

ExECUTi\'E Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, July 27, 1864. 

Lieutenant-General Grant, City Point, Va. : 

Please have a surgeon's examination of Cornelius Lee Comygas, 
in Company A, One hundred and eiglity-third Volunteers, made 
on the questions of general health and sanity. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, July 28, 1864. 

Hon. J. W. Forney, Philadelphia, Penn. : 

I wish yourself and IM. McMichael would see me here to-morrow, 
or early in the day Saturday. A. Lincoln. 

Executr'e Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, July 30, 1864. 

Major-General Hunter, Harper's Ferry, Va.: 

What news this morning? A. Lincoln. 

Executh'e Mansion. 
Washington, July 30, 1864. 
Hon. M. Odell, Brooklyn: 

Please find Colonel Fowler, of Fourteenth Volunteers, and have 
him telegraph, if he will, a recommendation for Clemens J. Myers, 
for a clerkship. A. Lincoln. 

Fxecuth'e Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, August 1, 1864. 

Goi'ERNOR E. D. Morgan, Saratoga Springs, N. Y. : 

Please come here at once. I wish to see you. 

A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX .„, 

EXECUTIVK ^IaNSIOX, 

Washington, August 5, 1864. 
GtovERNOR PiERPOiNT, Alexandria, Va. : 

General Butler telegraphs me that Judge Snead is at liberty. 

A. Lincoln. 

"War Department, 
Washington^ D. C, August 6, 1864. 

Col. S. M. Bowman^ Baltimore, Md.: 
If convenient come and see me. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, August 6, 1864. 

Hon. Anson Miller, Rockford, 111.: 

If you will go and live in New Mexico I will appoint you a 
judge there. Answer. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, August 6, 1864. 

Hon. Horace Greeley, New York: 

Yours to Major Hay about publication of our correspondence 
received. With the suppression of a few passages in your letters 
in regard to which I think you and I would not disagree, I should 
be glad of the publication. Please come over and see me. 

A. Lincoln. 

(This letter does appear in the Life by John G. Nicolay and 
John Hay.) 

Executive ]\rANsiov. 
Washington, August 8, 1864. 

Hon. Horace Greeley, New York: 

I telegraphed you Saturday. Did you receive tho dispatch? 
Please answer. ^- Lincoln. 

Executive ]\rANsioN, 
Washington, D. C., August 8, 1864. 

Hon. I. N. Arnold, Chicago: 

I send you by mail to-day the appointi^ent of Colonel :\rulligan, 
to be a brevet brigadier-general. A. Lincoln. 

ENDOESEMENT of APPLICATION FOR E:\rPLOYMENT. 

August 15, 1864. 
**I am always for the man who wishes to work; and I shall be 



.-2 ^l^E OF LINCOLN 

glad for this man to get suitable employment at Cavalry Depot, 
or elsewhere. A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by C. F. Gunther, Chicago, 111.) 

War Department^ 
Washington, D. C, August 18, 1864. 

Governor Andrew Johnson, Nashville, Tenn. : 

The officer whose duty it would be to execute John S. Young, 
upon a sentence of death for murder, &c., is hereby ordered to sus- 
pend such execution until further order from me. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, August 18, 1864. 

George W. Bridges, Colonel Tenth Tennessee Volunteers, Nash- 
ville, Tenn.: 

If Governor Andrew Johnson thinks execution of sentence in 
case of William R. Bridges should be further suspended, and will 
request it, the President will order it. 

Jno. G. Nicolay, 

Private Secretary. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, August 20, 1864. 

Commanding Officer at Nashville, Tenn.: 

Suspend execution of death sentence of Patrick Jones, Company 
F, Twelfth Tennessee Cavalry, vu:til further orders and forward 
record for examination. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send above telegram. Jno. G. NicoijAV, 

Private Secretary. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, August 20, 1864. 

Major-General Butler, Bermuda Hundred, Va. : 

Please allow Judge Snead to go to his family on Eastern Shore, 
or give me some good reason why not. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
August 21, 1864—3 p. m. 

Colonel Chipman, Harper's Ferry, Va.: 

What news now? A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 433 

War Depart^fent, 
Washington Cit\% August 24, 1864. 

Mrs. Mary McCook Baldwin, Nashville, Tenn. : 

This is an order to the oifieer having in charge tc execute the 
death sentence upon John S. Young, to suspend the same until 
further order. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Manston, 
Washington, August 26, 1864. 

Governor Johnson, Nashville, Tenn.: 

Thanks to General Gillam for making the news and also to you 
for sending it. Does Joe Ileiskell's " walking to meet us " mean 
any more than that " Joe " was scared and wanted to save his skin'^ 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C., August 28, 1864. 

Major-General Wallace, Baltimore, Md.: 

The punishment of the four men under sentence of death to 
be executed to-morrow at Baltimore, is commuted in each case to 
confinement in the Penitentiary at hard labor during the war. 
You will act accordingly. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C., August 30, 1864. 

Hon. B. H. Brewster, Astor House, New York: 

Your letter of yesterday received. Thank you for it. Please have 
no fears. A. Lincoln. 

Washington, D. C, September 5, 1864. 

Hon. Henry J. Raymond, New York: 

Have written about Indiana matters. Attend to it to-morrow. 

E. B. Washburne. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 7, 1864, 

Governor Johnson, Nashville, Tenn.: 

This is an order to whatever officer may have the matter in 
charge, that the execution of Thomas R. Bridges be respited tu 
Friday, September 30, 1864. A. Lincoln, 

(38) 



434 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, September 7, 1864. 

Governor Johnson, Nashville, Tenn.: 

This is an order to whatever officer may have the matter ia 
charge that the execution of Jesse T. Broadway and Jordon Mose- 
ley, is respited to Friday September 30, 1864. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, September 8, 1864. 

Governor Smith, Providence, R. I.: 

Yours of yesterday about Edward Conley received. Don't re- 
member receiving anything else from you on the subject. Please 
telegraph me at once the grounds on which you request his pun- 
ishment to be commuted. A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, September 8, 1864. 

OovERNOR Pickering, Olympia, W. T. : 

Your patriotic dispatch of yesterday received and will be pub- 
Hshed. A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, September 8, 1864. 

General Slough, Alexandria, Va.: 

Edward Conley's execution is respited to one week from to- 
morrow. Act accordingly. A. Lincoln. 



War Departsient, 
Washington City, September 9, 1864. 

Isaac M. Schemerhorn, Buffalo, N. Y.: 

Yours of to-day received. I do not think the letter you mention 
has reached me. I have no recollection of it. A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, September 11, 1864. 

Mrs. A. Lincoln, New York: 

All well. What day will you be home? Four days ago sent 
dispatch to Manchester. Vt., for you. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX .-,r 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, September 13, 1864. 

Hon. J. G. Blaine, Augusta, Me.: 

On behalf of the Union, thanks to Maine. Thanks to you per- 
sonally for sending the news. A. IJncoln. 

P. S. — Send same to L. B. Smith and M. A. Blanchard, Port- 
land, Me. A. L. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 13, 1864. 

Ma.jor-General Rosecrans, Saint Louis: 

Postpone the execution of S. H. Anderson for two weeks. Hear 
what his friends can say in mitigation and report to me. 

A. Lincoln. 
Major Eckert: 

Please send the above telegram. Jno. G. Nicola y. 

Private Secretary. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 13, 1864. 

Ma.tor-vteneral Rosecrans, Saint Louis: 

Postpone the execution of Joseph Johnson for two weeks. Ex' 
amine the case and report. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send the above telegram. Jno. G. Nicola y. 

Private Secretary. 



ExECUTH'E '^^AXSION, 

Washington, September 15, 1864. 

Major H. H. Heath, Baltimore, Md.: 

You are hereby authorized to visit Washington. 

A. Lincoln. 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, September 1(5, 1864. 

General Slough, Alexandria, Va.: 

On the 14th I commuted the sentence of Conley, but fearing 
vou may not have received notice T send this. Do not execute him. 

A. Lincoln. 



436 I'i^t-'E OF LINCOLN 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, September 16, 1864. 

Hon. William Sprague, Providence, K. I. : 

I commuted the sentence of Conley two days ago. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 16, 1864. 

Major-General Sigel, Bethlehem, Pa.: 

You are authorized to visit Washington on receipt of this. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive M\nsion, 

September 20, 1864. 

Major-General Meade, Headquarters Army Potomac: 

If you have not executed the sentence in th^; 'Dse of Private 
Peter Gilner, Company F, Sixty-second Pennsylvania Volunteers, 
let it be suspended until further orders. Report to me. 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, September 24, 1864. 

Frank W. Bollard, New York: 

I shall be happy to receive the deputation you mention. 

A. Lincoln^ 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, September 25, 1864. 

George H. Bragonier, Commanding at Cumberland, Md. : 

Postpone the execution of Private Joseph Provost, until Friday 
the 30th instant. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 25, 1864. 

H. W. Hoffman, Baltimore, Md. : 
Please come over and see me to-morrow, or as soon as convenient. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 27, 1864. 

Governor Johnson, Nashville, Tenn. : 

I am appealed to in behalf of "Robert Bridges, who it is said 
is to be executed next Friday. Please satisfy yourself, and give 
me your opinion as to what ought be done. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 437 

War Dei'artmknt, 
Washington, D. C, September 28, 1864, 

Officer in Command at Nashville, Tenn. : 

Execution of Jesse A. Broadway is hereby respited to Friday 
the 14th day of October next. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 29, 1864. 

Officer in Command at Nashville, Tenn.: 

Let the execution of Robert T. Bridges be suspended until fur- 
ther order from me. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, September 30, 1864. 

Major-General Butler, Bermuda Hundred, Va.: 

Is there a man in your department by the name of James Hal- 
lion, under sentence, and if so what is the sentence, and for what? 

A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, October 1, 1864. 

Officer in Command at Fort Monroe, Va. : 

Is there a man by the name James Hallion (I think) under 
sentence? And what is his offense? What the sentence, and 
when to be executed? A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, October 5, 1864. 

Officer in Com.mand, at Nashville, Tenn.: 

Suspend execution of Thomas K. Miller until further order from 
me. A. Lincoln 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C. October 10, 186^: — 5 p. m. 

Governor Ourtin, Harrisburg, Pa.: 

Yours of to-day just this moment received, and the Secretary 
having left it is impossible for me tc answer to-day. I have not 
received your letter from Erie. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, October 11, 1864. 

General S. Cameron, Philadelphia, Pa.: 

Am leaving office to go home. How does it stand now? 

A. Lincoln. 



438 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 

October 12, 1864. 

Major-Ueneral Meade, Headquarters Army of the Potomac: 

The President directs suspension of execution in case of Albert 
G. Lawrence, Sixteenth Massachusetts Volunteers, until his fur- 
ther order. John Hay, 

Major and Assistant Adjutant-General. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, October 13, 1864. 

Hon. G. S. Ortii, Lafayette, Ind.: 

I now incline to defer the appointment of judge until the meet- 
ing of Congress. A. Lincoln. 

ExECUTrv^E IMansion, 
Washington, October 13, 1864. 

Commandant at Nashville, Tenn.: 

The sentence of Jesse Broadway has been commuted by the 
President to imprisonment at hard labor for three years. 

John Hay, 
Major and Assistant Adjutant-General. 

(Cypher) War Department, 

Washington, D. C, October 15, 1864. 

Hon. H. W. Hoffman, Baltimore, Md. : 

Come over to-night and see me. A. Lincoln, 

" War Department, 
Washington, D. C, October 16, 1864. 

Hon. J. K. Moorehead, Pittsburg, Pa.: 

I do not remember about the Peter Gilner case, and must look 
it up before I can answer. A. Lincoln. 

War Depart^iext, 
Washington, D. C, October 22, 1864. 

William Price, District Attorney, Baltimore, Md. : 

Yours received. Will see you any time when you present your- 
self. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, October 25, 1864. 

Officer in Command at Nashville, Tenn.: 

Suspend execution of Young C. Edmonson, until further order 
from here. Answer if you receive this- A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX ..Q 

Executive IVr.wsiox, 
WASillNciTON, October 2'), 18G4. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Robinson, of Third Maryland Battalion, 
near Petersburg, Va. : 

Please inform me what is the condition of, au<l what is being 
done with Lieut. Charles Saunieuig, in your command. 

A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) Executive Mansion, 

Washington, October 30, 1864. 

Hon. a. K. McClure. Harrisburg, Pa.: 
I would like to hear from you. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, October 31, 18G4. 

Hon. Thomas T. Davis, Syracuse, N. Y. : 

I have ordered that Milton U. Norton be discharged on taking 
the oath. Please notify his mothei-. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 1, 18G4. 

Major-General Dix, New York: 

Please suspend execution of Private P. Carroll until further 
order. Acknowledge receipt. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 1, 18G4. 

Hon. A. Hobbs, Malone, N. Y.: 

Where is Nathan Wilcox, of whom you telegraph, to be found? 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive i\LvNsioN, 
Washington, November 2, 18G4. 

Lieutenant-General Grant, City Point: 

Suspend until further order the execution of Nathan Wilcox of 
Twentj -second Massachusetts Kegiment Fifth Corps, said to be 
at Repair Depot. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, November 2, 18G4. 

Hon. H. J. Raymond and General W. K. Strong, New York: 

Telegraphed General Dix last night to susi)end execution of P. 
Carroll, and have his answer that the order is received by him. 

A. Ijncoln. 



440 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 3, 1864. 

Officer in Command at Lexington, Ky.: 

Suspend execution of Vance Mason until further order. Ac- 
knowledge receipt. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 3, 1864. 
Major-General Meade: 

Suspend execution of Samuel J. Smith, and George Brown, 
alias George Rock, until further order and send record. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 4, 1864. 

Major-General Burbridge, Lexington, Ky. : 

Suspend execution of all the deserters ordered to be executed 
on Sunday at Louisville, until further order, and send me the 
records in the cases. Acknowledge receipt. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 5, 1864. 

Officer in Command at Chattanooga, Tenn. : 

■ Suspend execution of Robert W. Reed until further order and 
send record. Answer. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 5, 1864. 

Hon. W. H. Seward, Auburn, N. Y. : 

No news of consequence this morning. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, November 10, 1864. 

Major-General Rosecrans, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

Suspend execution of Major Wolf until further order and mean- 
while report to me on the case. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, November 10, 1864. 

H. W. Hoffman, Baltimore, Md. : 

The Maryland soldiers in the Army of the Potomac cast a 
total vote of 1428, out of which we get 1160 majority. This is 
directly from General Meade and General Grant. A. Lincoln, 



APPENDIX 4^1 

(Cypher) War Departmknt, 

Washington, D. C, November 15, 1864. 
Major-General Thomas, Nashville, Tenii.: 
How much force and artillery had Gillem? A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, November 15, 1864. 

W. H. PuRNELL, Baltimore, Md. : 

I shall be happy to receive the committee on Thursday morning 
(17th) as you propose. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 19, 1864. 

Officer in Command at Davenport, Iowa: 

Let the Indian " Big Eagle " be discharged. I ordered this 
some time ago. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington City, November 24, 1864. 

Hon. Henry M. Rice, Saint Paul, Minn.: 

Have suspended execution of deserters named in your dispatch 
until further orders from here. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington City, November 24, 1864. 

Officer in Command at Fort Snelling, Minn.: 

Suspend execution of Patrick Kelly, John Lennor, Joel H. 
Eastwood, Thomas J. Murray, and Hoffman until further order 
from here. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, November 26, 1864. 
Major-General Rosecrans : 

Please telegraph me briefly on what charge and evidence Mrs. 
Anna B. Martin has been sent to the Penitentiary at Alton. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive ]\Lvnsion, 
Washington, December 5, 1864. 

Major-General THo^■AS, Nashville. Tenn.: 

Let execution in the case of Oliver B. Wheeler, sergeant in the 
Sixth Regiment, Missouri Volunteers, under sentence of death 



442 



LIFE OF LINCOLN 



for desertion at Chattanooga, on the 15th instant, be suspended 
until further order, and forward record for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 
Major Eckebt: 
Please forward the above. Jno. G. Nicolay. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 7, 1864. 

Governor Hall^ Jefferson City, Mo.: 

Complaint is made to me of the doings of a man at Hannibal, 
Mo., by the name of Haywood, who, as I am told has charge of 
some militia force, and is not in the U, S. service. Please inquire 
into the matter and correct anything you may find amiss if in 
your power. A. Lincoln. 



ExEcuTrvE IMansion, 
Washington, D. C, December 8, 1864. 

Colonel Fasleioh, Louisville, Ky. : 

I am appealed to in behalf of a man by the name of Frank 
Fairbairns, said to have been for a long time, and still in prison, 
without any definite ground stated. How is it? 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 

December 8, 1864. 

Major-General "Rosecranr, Commanding, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

Let execution in case of John Berry and James Berry be sus- 
pended until further order. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Will you please hurry off the above? To-morrow is the day of 
execution. John Hay, 

Assistant Adjutant-General. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 14, 1864. 

Lieutenant-General Grant, City Point, Va. : 

Please have execution of John McNulty, alias Joseph Eiley, 
Company E, Sixth New Hampshire Volunteers, suspended and 
record sent to me. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 443 

ExECUTiVK Mansion, 
Washington, Dccembfr IG, 18G4. 

Officer in Commani, at Chatliinnoga, 'I'dui.: 

It is said that Hairy Walters, a private in l.lic Anderson cav- 
alry, is now and for a lon^- tinier lias been in ])ris()n at Chattanooga. 
Please report to me what is his condition, and for what he is im- 
prisoned. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 20, 1864. 

Major-General Wallace, Baltimore, JVld.: 

Suspend execution of James P. Boilean until further order from 
here. A. Lincoln. 



Executive IVFansion, 
Washington, December 22, 1864. 

Officer in Command at Saint Josepli, Mo.: 

Pobtpone the execution of Iligswell, Holland, and Way, for 
twenty days. A. Lincoln. 

Executive l^fANsioN, 
Washington, December 22, 1864. 

Officer in Command at Indianapolis, Ind. : 

Postpone the execution of John Doyle Lennan, alias Thomas 
Doyls, for ten days. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 28, 1864. 

Officer in Command at Nashville, Tenn.: 

Suspend execution of James K. Mallory, for six weeks from Fri- 
day the 30th of this month, which time I have given his friends 
to make proof, if they can, upon certain points. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 29, 1864. 
Major-General Butler : 

Tihere is a man in Company T, Eleventh Connecticut Volunteers, 
First, Brigade, Third Division, Twenty-fourth Army Corps, at 
Chaf -n's Farm, Va., under the assumed name of William Stanley, 



444 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

but whose real name is Frank R. Judd, and who is under arrest, 
and probably about to be tried for desertion. He is the son of our 
present minister to Prussia, who is a close personal friend of 
Senator Trumbull and myself. We are not willing for the boy 
to be shot, but we think it as well that his trial go regularly on, 
suspending execution until further order from me and reporting 
to me. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 29, 1864. 

Officer in Command at Louisville, Ky. : 

Suspend execution of death sentence of George S. Owen, until 
further orders, and forward record of trial for examination. 

A, Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send the above telegram. Yours, 

Jno. G. Nicolay. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 30, 1864- 

Colonel Warner, Indianapolis, Ind. : 

It is said that you were on the court martial that tried John 
Lennon, and that you are disposed to advise his being pardoned 
and sent to his regiment. If this be true, telegraph me to that 
effect at once. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, December 31, 18G4. 

Col. A. J. Warner, Indianapolis, Ind. : 

Suspend execution of John Lennon until further order from 
me and in the meantime send me the record of his trial. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 4, 1865. 

John Williams, Springfield, HI.: 

Let Trumbo's substitute be regularly mustered in, send me 
the evidence that it is done and I will then discharge Trumbo. 

A.. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 4 , ^ 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 0, 1865. 

Lieutenant-General Grant, City Point: 

If there is a man at City Point by the name of Waterman 
Thornton who is in trouble about desertion, please have his case 
briefly stated to me and do not let him be executed moiuitime. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 9, 1805. 

Officer in Command at Saint Joseph, Mo.: 

Postpone the execution of the death sentence of Holland, High- 
smith, and Utz, ten days longer unless you receive orders from me 
to the contrary. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 
Please send the above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, January 11, 1865. 

Officer in Command at Nashville, Tenn. : 

Postpone the execution of S. W. Elliott, and C. E. Peacher, until 
the 3rd day of February, 1865. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 12, 1865. 

Officer in Command at Lexington, Ky.: 

Suspend execution of sentence of death in case of Solomon 
Spiegel, Ninth Michigan Cavalry, until further orders and foi^ 
vpard record of trial for examination. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 
Please send the above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay. 

Executive I^Fansion, 
Washington, January 12, 1865. 

Lieutenant-General Grant. City Point, Va. : 

If Henry Stork of Fifth Pennsylvania Cavalry, has been con- 
victed of desertion, and is not yet executed, please stay till further 
order and send record. A. Lincoln. 



146 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
"Washington, January 19, 1865. 

Major-General Dodge, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

If Mrs. Beattie, alias Mrs. Wolff, shall be sentenced to tJeath, 
notify me, and postpone execution till further order. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 19, 1865. 
Major-General Ord: 

You have a man in arrest for desertion passing by the name of 
Stanley. William Stanley, I think, but whose real name is dif- 
ferent. He is the son of so close a friend of mine that I must 
not let him be executed. Please let me know what is his present 
and prospective condition. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 20, 1865. 

Major-General Dix, New York: 
Let W. N. Bilbo be discharged on his parole. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 20, 1865. 

Lieutenant-General Grant, City Point, Va. : 

If Thomas Samplogh, of the First Delaware Pegiment has been 
sentenced to death, and is not yet executed, suspend and report the 
case to me. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 21, 1865. 

Major-General Wallace, Baltimore, Md. : 

Two weeks or ten days ago, as I remember, I gave direction for 
Levin L. Waters to be either tried at once or discharged. If he 
has not been tried, nor a trial of him progressing in good faith 
discharge him at once. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 22, 1865. 

Major-General Wallace, Baltimore, Md. : 

The case of Waters being as you state it, in your dispatch of to- 
day, of course the trial will proceed. A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 



447 



War Department, 
Washington, D. C, January 23, 1865. 

W. O. Bartlett, Esq., New York: 
Please come and see me at once. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 24, 1865. 

Lieutenant-General Grant, City Point: 

If Newell W. Root, of First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, is 
Under sentence of death please telegraph me briefly the circum- 
stances. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 25, 1865. 

Officer in Command at Nashville, Tenn. : 

Do not allow Elliott, under sentence of death to be exe- 
cuted without further order from me, and if an excliange of him 
for Capt. S. T. Harris, now a prisoner, supposed to be at Columbia, 
S. C, can be effected, let it be done. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, January 25, 1865. 

Lieutenant-General Grant, City Point, Va.: 

Having received the report in the case of Newell W. Root, I do 
not interfere fui'ther in the case. A. Lincoln. 

Executh^e Mansion, 
Washington, January 26, 1865. 
Lieutenant-General Grant : 

Suspend execution of death sentence of William H. Jeffs, Com- 
pany B, Fifty-sixth Massachusetts Volunteers, initil further or- 
ders, and forward record of trial for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 
Major Eckert: 

Please send the above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay, 

Private Secretary. 

Executive IFansion, 
Washington, January 26, 1865. 
Lieutenant-General Grant : 

Suspend execution of Hamel Shaffer ordered to be shot at City 
Point to-morrow, until further orders and forward record of trial 
for examination. A. Lincoln. 



448 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Major Eckert: 

Please send the above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 27, 1865. 
Lieutenant-General Grant: 

Stay execution in ease of Barney Roorke, Fifteenth New York 
Engineers, until record can be examined here. A. Lincoln. 

Send above dispatch and oblige. John Hay, 

Assistant Adjutant-General. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 27, 1805. 

To the Commanding Officer at Nashville, Tenn. : 

Let execution in case of Cornelius E. Poacher, be stayed until 
further orders. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 28, 1865. 

Major-General Ord, Army of the James: 

Give me a brief report in case of Charles Love, Seventh New 
Hampshire, tried for desertion, and transmit record for my ex- 
amination. A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) War Department, 

Washington, D. C, January 30, 1865. 

Major-General Ord, Headquarters Army of the James : 

By direction of the President you are instructed to inform the 
three gentlemen, Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, that 
a messenger will be dispatched to them at or near where they 
now are, without unnecessary delay. Edwin M. Stanton, 

Secretary of War. 

(This letter does appear in the Life by J. G. Nicolay and John 
Hay.) 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, January 31, 1865. 

Major-General Wallace, Baltimore, Md. : 

Suspend sending off of Charles E. Waters, until further order 
and send record if it has not already been sen* 

A. Lincoln. 



APPENDIX 44c; 

Executive Mansion', 
Washington, January 31, 1865. 

Major-General Wallace, Baltimore, Md. : 

Your second dispatch in regard to Waters is received. The 
President's dispatch of this morning did not refer to Levin T< 
Waters, but to a man who it was represented had been convicted 
by a military commission of unlawful trade with the rebels or 
something of that kind, and was to be sent this morning to the 
Albany Penitentiary. His 1 ime was given as Charles E. Waters. 
If such prisoner is on his way North let him be brought back and 
held as directed in the President's dispatch. 

Jno. G. Nicolay, 

Private Secretary. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, January 31, 1865. 

Officer in Command at Philadelphia, Pa.: 

Suspend execution of death sentence of John l\rurphy, ordered 
for February 10, 1865, at Fort Mifflin, until further orders and for- 
ward record of trial for examination. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please forward above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay, 

Private Secretary. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 1, 1865. 

General Shrpley, Norfolk, Va. : 

It is said that Henry W. Young, private in Sixty-third New 
York Volunteers, Company E, is in arrest for desertion. If he 
shrill be tried and scntonfod to any punishment, do not let sentence 
be executed until further order from me, meantime send me 
record of the trial. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 2, 1865. 

Officer in Command at Frankfort, Ky. : 

Suspend execution of death sentence of W. E. Walker until 
further orders, and forward record of trial for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 
Please send the above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay, 

Private Secretary. 
(29) 



450 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion*. 
Washington, February 4, 1865. 

Officer in Command at Nashville, Tenn. : 

Suspend execution of death sentence of James R. Mallory, until 
further orders. • A. Llncoln. 

Please send the above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, February 6, 1865. 

Frederick Hassaurek, Cincinnati, Ohio: 

A dispatch from General Grant says " Lieutenant ^[arkbeit has 
been released from prison and is now on his way North." 

A. Lincoln. 

To Lieutenant-General Grant, Headquarters Armies of the 
United States : 
Suspend execution in case of Simon J. SchafFer, Fifteenth New 
York Engineers, until further orders, and send me the record. 

A, Lincoln. 

Send above. Jno. G. Nicolay, 

Private Secretary. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 7, 1865. 

Officer in Command at Davenport, Iowa: 

Suspend execution of death sentence of John Davis, alias John 
Lewis, until further orders and forward record of trial for exam- 
ination. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 
Please send the above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 8, 1865. 

Mark Hoyt, Esq., 28 Spruce Street, New York: 

The President has received your dispatch asking- an interview 
He cannot appoint any specific day or hour, but your delegation 
may come at their own convenience and he will see them as soon 
as he possibly can after their arrival. Jno. G. Nicolay, 

Private Secretary. 



APPENDIX 451 

Executive Mansion, 
WasiiinutoNj February iJ, 1866. 

Major-General Cadwallader, Phila(leli)hia: 

Please suspend execution in case of Thomas Adams, One hun- 
dred and eighty-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and send record 
to me. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 9, 1865. 

Commanding-General Sixth Army Corps : 

Suspend the execution of the sentence of Private James L. 
Hycks, Sixty-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, until further 
orders. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

The President requests that you will send the above. The man 
was to have been executed on 10th instant. 

Ed. D. Neill, 
Secretary to President, United States, &c. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 9, 1865. 

Lieutenant-General Grant : 

Suspend execution of death sentence of Hugh F. Riley, Eleventh 
Massachusetts Volunteers, now in front of Petersburg, until fur- 
ther orders, and forward record for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 
Major Eckert: 

Please send above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 9, 1865. 

His Excellency John A. Andrew, Governor of ^lassachusettg, 
Boston, Mass. : 
The President has to-day sent a dispatch ordering that the exe- 
cution of Hvigb F. Riley, Eleventh Massachusetts Volunteers, be 
suspended until further orders and the record forwarded for ex- 
amination. Jno. G. Nicolay, 

Private Secretary. 



452 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 11, 1865. 

Major-General Ord, Army of James: 

Suspend execution of sentence in case of Maj. T. C. Jameson 
and send me the record. A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
"Washington, February 11, 1865. 

CoL. P. B. Hawkins, Frankfort, Ky. : 

General Burbridge may discharge W. E. Waller, if he thinks fit. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 12, 1865. 

Major-General Hooker, Cincinnati, Ohio: 

Is it Lieut. Samuel B. Davis whose death sentence is com- 
muted^ If not done, let it be done. Is there not an associate of 
his also in trouble ? Please answer. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 13, 1865. 
Major-General Sheridan: 

Suspend execution of sentence in case of James Lynch, aliai 
Hennessy, until further orders and send record to me. Please ac- 
knowledge receipt of this, A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send above telegram. Jno. G. Nicola y. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 14, 1865. 

To the Commanding Officer, Davenport, loiva: 

Suspend execution of deatli sentence of John C. Brown, alias 
William A. Craven, and of John Ble, alias Cohoe, until further 
orders and send records for examination. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send the above dispatch. Jno. G. Nicola y. 

Private Secretary. 



APPENDIX 453 

Executive Maxsiox, 
Wasiiixgton, February 1-i, 18G5. 
Major-General SHERroAN: 

Suspend execution of death sentence of James Brown, fixed for 
the 17th instant at Harper's Ferry, until further orders, and for- 
ward record for examination. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay. 

Washington^ February 15, 18G5. 
Major-General Sheridan : 

Suspend execution in case of Luther T. Palmer, Fifth New 
York Artillery, for fourteen days and send record to me for ex- 
amination. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 15, 1865. 
Major-General Sheridan : 

Suspend execution of death sentence of William Randall, at 
Harper's Ferry, of Fifth New York Heavy Artillery, until further 
orders and forward record of trial for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 
Major Eckert: 

Please send the above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay. 

Executive ]\Lvnsion, 
Washington, February 16, 1865, 

Lieutenant-General Grant: 

Suspend execution of death sentence of George W. Brown, Hom- 
pany A, Fifteenth New York Engineers, now at City Point, until 
further orders and forward record for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 
Major Eckert: 

Please send the above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay, 

Executive ^Faxsion, 
Washington, February 16, 1865. 

Lieutenant-General Grant : 

Suspend execution of death sentence of Charles Love. Seventh 
New Hampshire Volunteers, at City Point, imtil further orders and 
forward record for examination. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 
Please send the above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay. 



45.1- LIFE OF LINCOLN 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 17, 186f 

Officer in Command at Davenport, Iowa : 

Suspend execution of death sentence of William A. Craven, for 
foiu' weeks and forward record for examination. A. Lincoln. 

Major Eckert: 

Please send above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 17, 1865. 

Officer in Command at Harper's Ferry : 

Chaplain Fitzgibbon yesterday sent me a dispatch invoking 
clemency for Jackson, Stewart and Randall, who are to be shot 
to-day. The dispatch is so vague that there is no means here of 
ascertaining whether or not the execution of sentence of one or 
more of them may not already have been ordered. If not suspend 
execution of sentence in their cases until further orders and for- 
ward records of trials for examination. A. Lincoln, 

Major Eckert: 

Please send above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 20, 1865. 

Officer in Comaiand at Davenport, Iowa : 

Suspend execution of Henry Cole, alias Henry Coho, until fur- 
ther order and send record. A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 22, 1865. 

Officer in Coaimand at Lexington, Ky. : 
Send forthwith record of the trial of C. K. Johnson. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, February 23, 1865. 
Lieutenant-General Grant: 

Suspend execution of death sentence of George A. Maynard, 
Company A, Forty-sixth New York Veteran Volunteers, until 
further orders and forward record for examination. 

A. Lincoln. 
Major Eckert: 

Please send the above telegram. Jno. G. Nicolay, 

Private Secretary. 



APPENDIX 45 3 

Executive "Mansion, 
Washington, February 21, 1865. 

Major-General Pope, Saint Louis, ]\[o. : 

Please inquire and report to me whether there is any propriety 
of longer keeping in Gratiott Street Prison a man said to be 
there by the name of Kiley Whiting. A. Lincoln. 

Executive l\rANsioN, 
Washington, February 28, 1865, 

Commanding Officer, Harper's Ferry, Va. : 

Let the sentence in case of Luther T. Palmer be susiiended till 
further order. A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) War Department. 

Washington, D. C, i\rarch 6, 1865 

Hon. David Tod, Cleveland, Ohio: 

I have yours about Grannis, and am compelled to say there is a 
complication in the v^ay. A. Lincoln. 

War Department, 
Washington, D. C, .March 9, 1865. 

W. O. Bartlett, Philadcl))hia (probably at Continental) : 

It will soon be too late if you are not here. A. Lincoln. 

Washington, March 13, 1865, 

Hon. Henry T. Blow, Saint Louis, Mo.: 

A Miss E. Snodgrass, who was banished from Saint Louis in 
May, 1863, wishes to take the oath and return home. What say 
you? A. Lincoln. 

Executive ^Iansion, 
Washington, JMarch 16, 1865. 
Major-General Ord: 

Suspend execution of Lieut. Henry A. ]^feck, of First F. S. col- 
ored Cavalry, until further order from here. Answer. 

A. Lincoln. 

War F'i'.partment, 
Washington. D. C, .March 17, 1865. 

Col. R. M. Hough and Others, Chicago, 111.: 

Yours received. Tlie best I can do witli it is to refer it to the 
War Department. The Rock Island case referred to, was my 



455 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

individual enterprise, and it caused so much difficulty m so many 
ways that I promised to never undertake another. 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, May [March] 20, 1865, 

Major-GenEVx>.l Ord, Army of the James: 

Is it true that George W. Lane is detained at Norfolk without 
any charge against him ? And if so why is it done ? 

A. Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, March 23, 1865. 

General Dodge, Commanding, &c., Saint Louis, Mo.: 

Allow Mrs. R. S. Ewell the benefit of my amnesty proclamation 
on her taking the oath. A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) Headquarters Army of the Potomac, 

March 25, 1865. (Received 5 p. m.) 

Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War: 

I am here within five miles of the scene of this morning's action. 
I have nothing to add to what General Meade reports except that 
I have seen the prisoners myself and they look like there might 
be the number he states — 1,600. A. Lincoln. 

City Point, Va., March 26, 1865. (Received 11.30 a. m.) 

Hon. Secretary of War: 

I approve your Fort Sumter programme. Grant don't seem to 
know Yeatman very well, but thinks very well of him so far as 
he knows. Thinks it probable that Y. is here now, for the place. 
I told you this yesterday as well as that you should do as you 
think best about Mr. Whiting^s resignation, but 1 suppose you 
did not receive the dispatch. I am on the boat and have no later 
war news than went to you last night. A. Lincoln. 

City Point, Ya., March 30, 1865—7.30 p. m. 

(Received 8.30 p. m.) 
Hon. Secretary of War: 

I begin to fool tliat T ought to be at home and yet I dislike 
to leave without seeing nearer to the end of General Grant's pres- 
ent movement. lie has now been on* since yesterday morning 
and although he has not been divested from his programme no 
considerable effort has yet been produced so far as we know here. 
Last night at 10.15 p. m. when it was dark as a rainy night with- 



APPENDIX 



45; 



out a moon could be, a furious cannonade soon joined in by a 
heavy musketry lire opened near Petersburg and lasted about two 
hours. The sound was very distinct here as also were the flashes 
of the guiis up the clouds. It seemed to me a groat battle, but 
the older hands here scarcely noticed it and sure enough this morn- 
ing it was found that very little had been done. A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) City Point, Va., April 1, 1865— 5.;50 p. m. 

(Received 8.0U p. m.) 

Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War: 

Dispatch just received showing that Sheridan, aided by War- 
ren had at 2 p. m. pushed the enemy back so as to retake the live 
forks and bring his own headquarters up to I. Boisseans. The 
five forks were barricaded by the enemy and carried by Diven's 
division of cavalry. This part of the enemy seems to now be 
trying to work along the White Oak road to join the main force 
in front of Grant, while Sheridan and Warren are pressing them 
aa closely as possible. A. Lincoln, 

City Point, Va., April 2, 1865. 
Mrs. Lincoln: 

At 4.30 p. m. to-day General Grant telegraphs that he has Peters- 
burg completely enveloped from river below to river above, and 
has captured since he started last Wednesday, about 12,000 pris- 
oners and 50 guns. He suggests that I shall go out and see him in 
the morning, which I think I will do. Tad and I are both well, 
and will be glad to see you and your party here at the time you 
name. A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) City Point, Va., April 3, 1865—5 p. m. 

(Received 7 p. m.) 
Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War: 

Yours received. Thanks for your caution, but I have already 
been to Petersburg, stayed with General Grant an hour and a half 
and returned here. It is certain now that Richmond is in our 
hands, and I think I will go there to-morrow. I will t:dvc care of 
myself. A. Lincoln. 

(Cypher) City Point, Va., April 4, 1865 — 8 a. m. 

(Received 8.45 a. m.) 

Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War: 

General Weitzel telegraphs from Richmond that of railroad 
Btock he found there, 28 locomotives, 44 passenger and baggage 
cars, and 106 freight cars. At 3.30 this evening General Grant from 
Southerland Station, 10 miles from Petersburg toward Burkep- 
ville telegraphs as follows : 



458 LIFE OF LINCOLN 

" General Sheridan picked up 1,200 prisoners to-day and from 
300 to 500 more have been gathered by other troops. The majority 
of the arms that were left in the hands of the remnant of I^ee's 
army are now scattered between Richmond and where. his troops 
are. Tlie country is also full of stragglers, tlie line of retreat 
marked with artillery, ammunition burned or charred wagons, cais- 
sons, ambulances, &c." A. Lincoln. 

City Point, Va., April 5, 1865. (Eeceived 11 : 55 p. m.) 

Hon. Secretary of State: 

Yours of to-day received. I think there is no probability of 
my remaining here more than two days longer. If that is too long 
come down. I passed last night at Richmond and have just re- 
turned. A. Lincoln. 

City Point, Va., April 7, 1865—8.35 a. m. 

(Received 10.30 a. m.) 
Hon. Secretary of War: 

At 11.15 p. m. yesterday at Burkesville Station, General Grant 
Bends me the following from General Sheridan: 

" April 6—11.15 p. m. 
" Lieutenant-General Grant : 

" I have the honor to report that the enemy made a stand at the 
intersection of the Burks Station road with the road upon which 
they were retreating. I attacked them with two divisions of the 
Sixth Army Corps and routed them handsomely, making a connec- 
tion with the cavalry I am still pressing on with both cavalry and 
infantry. Up to the present time we have captured Generals Ewell, 
Kershaw, Button, Corse, De Bare, and Custus Lee, several thou- 
sand prisoners, 14 pieces of artillery with caissons and a large 
number of wagons. If the thing is pressed I think Lee will sur- 
render. " P. H. Sheridan, 

" Major-General, Commanding." 

A. Lincoln. 

City Point, April 7, 1865—9 a. m. 
(Received 10:30 a. m.) 
Hon. Secretary of War: 

The following further just received: 

"Burkesville, Va. 
" A. Lincoln : 

" The following telegrams respectfully forwarded for your in- 
formation : " U. S. Grant, 

" Lieutenant-General." 



APPENDIX 459 

" Second Army Corps^ April (3 — 7.30 i>- nu 
"Maj.-Gen. a. S. Webb: 

"Our last figlit, jiisl, hol'ore dark at Sailor's Crock g-avc us 2 
guns, 3 flags, considerable numbers of prisoners, 200 wagons, 70 
ambulances with mules and horses to about one-half the wagons 
and ambulances. There are between 30 and 50 wagons in addition 
abandoned and destroyed along the road, some battery wagons, 
forages, and limbers. I have already reported to you the capture 
of 1 gun, 2 flags and some prisoners, and the fact that the road for 
over 2 miles is strewed with tents, baggage, cooking utensils, some 
ammunition, some material of all kinds, the wagons across the 
approach to the bridges it will take some time to clear it. The 
enemy is in position on the heights beyond with artillery. The 
bridge partially destroyed and the approaches on other side are 
of soft bottom land. We cannot advance to-morrow in the same 
manner we have to-day. As soon as I get my troops up a little, 
we are considerably mixed, I might push a column dovni the road 
and deploy it but it is evident that I cannot follow rapidly during 
the night. "A. A. Humphreys, 

" Major-General." 
A. Lincoln. 

Head Quarters Armies of the United States, 
City Point, April 7, 11 a. m., 1865. 

Lieutenant-General Grant : 

Gen. Sheridan says " If the thing is pressed I think that Lee will 
surrender." Let the thing be pressed. A. Lincoln. 

(Original owned by C. F. Gunther of Chicago, 111.) 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington, April 11, 1865. 

Brig. Gen. G. H. Gordon, Norfolk, Va.: 

Send to me at once a full statement as to the cause or causes 
for which, and by authority of what tribunal, George W. Lane, 
Charles Whitloek, Ezra Baker, J. ]\L liensliaw, and otliors are 
restrained of their liberty. Do this promptly and fidly. 

A. Lincoln. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Abraham Lincoln, Ode for the Burial 
of, ii, 257. 

"Abraham, Father," ii, i6g. 

Adams, Mr., ii, 25. 

Adams, (ien. James, i, 155-157. 

Adams, John Quincy, i, 207. 

Address to Border States representa- 
tives, ii. III. 

Address, first inaugural, ii, 6-12. 

— opinions of the press, ii, 12, 13. 
■^- second inaugural, ii, 221, 222. 
Administration, embarrassment of, ii, 

44. 

— military policy, ii, 53, 70, 93, 95, 
loi, 194. 

Akers, Peter, Rev. Dr., sermon of, i, 

237- 
Allen, Dr. John, i, 9. 
Anderson, Robert, (ien., i, So, 86,. 90, 

387. 

— in command of Fort Sumter, ii, 

14, 15- 

— heroic defence, ii, 33, 230. 
Anti-slavery agitation, i, 35. 
Arms, i, 388, ii, 44. 

Armstrong, Jack, i, 63, 64, 107, 270. 
Armstrong murder, i, 270-273. 
Armstrong, Hannah, i, 107, 270, 271, 

273- 
Armstrong, William. (Scr Armstrong 

murder case.) 
Army of the Cumberland, ii, 145. 
Army of Northeastern Virginia, ii, 55. 
Army, increase of, ii, 43. 
Army of the Potomac, ii, 69. 

— inaction of, ii, 71, 86, 105, 127, 
133. 139- 140, 145. 150, 160, 162. 

Army of Virginia, ii, 129. 
Arnold, Isaac, ii, 46, ill, 231. 
Arsenal, supplies of, ii, 44. 
Ashburn resolution, i, 214. 



Ashmun, George, 1, 34<>. 359 ; ii, 43, 

236. 
Atkinson, Gen., i, 75, Si-84. 
Atwood, of Philadelphia, i, 373. 



B 



Bad Ax, battle of, i, 90. 
Bailhache, Wm. H., Major, i, 403. 
Baker, Edward D., Col., i, 133, 158, 
166. 

— nominated for Congress against Lin- 
coln, i, 194, 195, 202, 203, 212, 39S: 
ii, 70, 71. 

Baker, Senator, of Oregon, ii, 5. 
Ball's Bluff, battle of, ii, 70, 71. 
Baltimore, plot in, i, 419. 
Bancroft, Frederick, i, 392. 
Banks, C.en., i, 347 ; ii, 5S, 71. 
Banks, of Massachusetts, i, 347, 403. 
Baptist Licking Locust Ass., i, 35. 
Bartlett, D. \V., i, 370. 
Bateman, Newton, Dr., i, 361. 
Bates, Edward, i, 347, 398, 402, 424. 
Beatty, George, i, 321. 
Beckwith, II. W., Judge, i. 251. 

— " Personal Recollections of Lin- 
coln," i, 252, 30S. 

Beecher, Henry Ward, Rev., i, 304, 

322; ii, 230. 
Bell, Mr., \. 3S0, 3S6. 
Bennett, John, i, 137, 193, 204. 
Benton, 'i'homas II., i, 207. 
Berry, l.iicy (Shipley), Mrs., aunt of 

Nancy I lanks, i, 8. 
Berry, Mr., of Bostini, i, 373. 
Berry and Lincoln, store of, i, 9, 92. 

— tavern license, i, 94-96, 104, loS. 
Berry, Riehard, i, 8, 10. 

Berry, Wm. F., i, 92. 
Birncy, James G., i, 200. 
Bissell, Wm. H., Gen., i, 29I. 



464 



INDEX 



Black Hawk. {Set Black Hawk War.) 
Black Hawk War, i, 73-87. 

— prominent Americans engaged in, 
i, go, 114, 211. 

Blaine, James G., Secretary, ii, 168. 
Blair, Francis P., i, 292, 349, 359; ii, 
88. 

— acts as peacemaker, ii, 209-210, 

359- 

Blair, Frank P., of Chicago, ii, 88. 

Blair, Montgomery, Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, i, 424, 425 ; ii, 20, 61, 64, 65, 

97. 
Blanchard, John, i, 208. 
Blodgett, Judge, i, 276, 277. 
Blondin, story of, ii, 92. 
Boal, Robert, Dr., i, 203. 
Bond, Ben., i, 166. 
Boone, Nathan, Col., i, 90. 
Booth, Junius Brutus, ii, 248. 
Booth, John Wilkes, ii, 199. 
^ assassinates Lincoln, 238-240. 
Boutwell, George S. , Gov., i, 349, 359, 

360. 
Bowles, Samuel, i, 349.. 359. 37°. 
Bragg, Braxton, Gen., ii, 182, 183. 
Brayman, Mason, Gen., i, 255, 259, 

327- 
Breckenridge, Gov., i, 380, 386. 
Breese, Sidney, Hon., i, 90. 
Bright, John, ii, 46. 
Broadwell, Judge, i, 177. 
Brokaw, Abraham, i, story of Lincoln's 

fees, 267, 268. 
Bromley, Isaac H., Mr., i, 343, 349. 
Brooks, Noah, i, 404; ii, 138. 
Brown, Gratz, i, 349 ; ii, 174. 
Brown, of Philadelphia, i, 373. 
Brown, Mrs., I^r., i, 176. 

— describes I^incoln's wedding, i, 190. 
Browning, O. H., Hon., i, 133, 158, 

229 ; ii, 9, 66. 
Browning, O. H., Mrs., i, 149, 150. 
Brumfield, Nancy (I^incoln), Mrs., i, 

6. 
Brumfield, William, i, 6. 
Bryant, John, i, 86, 144, 146. 
Bryant, William Cullen, i, 80, 86, 90, 

327- 

— editorial on Lincoln, i, 365, 370, 
380; ii, 178, 257. 

Buchanan, James T., President, i, 207, 
300-303, 407, 423. 

— escorts Lincoln to Capitol, ii, 2, 4, 
5. 15, 16. 

Buell, Gen., ii, 84, 143, 162. 



Bull Run, battle of, ii, 55, 56; 50, 60 

79. 150. 
Burner, Daniel Green, i, 108. 
Burner, Isaac, i, no. 
Burnside, Ambrose, Gen., return of, 

ii. 57- 

— relieves McClellan, ii, 133. 

— movements of , ii, 134, 135, 170, iSl, 
182. 

Busey, S. C, Dr., personal reminis- 
cences and recollections, i, 208-210. 

Butler, Gen., ii, 58, 249. 

Butler, William, i, 91, 148, 180, 186, 
187. 

Butterfield, Justin, Gen., i, 230, 231 ; 
ii, 138. 



Cabinet, selecting the, i, 399-403, 423- 

425 ; ii, 18-22, 53, 70. 
Calhoun, John, i, 99, 122, 159, 197. 
Campaign of i860, delegation of, i, 

359- 

— nomination an accomplished fact, i, 

361. 

— demonstrations, i, 364. 

— opinions of the press, i, 365. 

— rail fence, i, 366. 

— Seward's ratification, i, 366-368. 

— speeches, i, 369. 

— tracts, i, 369. 

— clubs, i, 370. 

— songs, i, 371. 

— mass meetings, i, 372. 
Cameron, Rev. John, i, 107. 
Cameron, John, i, 60. 

Cameron, Simon, Secretary, i, 342, 
344. 347. 400, 425 ; ii, 43. 

— unfitness, ii, 76, 77. 

— relieved, ii, 78, 142. 
Cameron, Polly, Mrs., i, 107. 
Campbell, John A., ii, 210. 
Campbell, Thomas, i, 196, I97. 
Canby, Gen., ii, 219. 
Canfield, Robert W., i, 197. 
Capitol, the, ii, 2. 

Carman, Walter, i, 53, 54. 
Carpenter, Mr., ii, 116. 
Carr, Clark E., Col., ii, 3. 
Carr, Wm. W., Lieut., i, ig8. 
Carter. David K., i, 359. 
Cartwright, Peter, i, 206, 273, 274 
Casparis, James, i, 216. 
Cass, Gen., i, 218, 219. 



INDEX 



4^5 



Cemetery, Oakland, grave of Abraham 

Lincoln, ii, 260. 
Chandler, A. B.,ii, 105, 140, 141, 153. 
Chandler, Zachariah, Senator, i, 292 ; 

ii. 35, 52, 94- 
Chase, Salmon P., Secretary, i, 335, 

344, 347, 355, 399, 400, 425, 426 ; 
ii, 50, 75, 120. 

— rival of Lincoln, ii, 189-19I. 
Chicago, mourning in, ii, 258. 
Chicago, rise of, i, 114. 

— audacity of, i, 342. 

Civil War, ii, 146, 157, 164, 168, 170. 

Chittenden, E. L., ii, 249. 

Clarke, Enos, ii, 175. 

Clary's Grove Boys, i, 63, 89, 92, 272. 

Clay, Cassius M., i, 349, 369, 370; ii, 

37. 
Clay, Henry, i, 197, 201, 216, 380. 
Clover, judge, ii, 65. 
Coffin, C. C, ii, 70. 
Colfax, Schuyler, i, 425 ; ii, 233, 23G. 
Collamer, of Vermont, i, 347. 
Compositors receive news of Lincoln's 

death, ii, 245, 246. 
Conant, A. J., i, 93, 373._ 
Confederacy, Southern, ii, 19, 36. 
Conference, Hampton Roads, ii, 212. 
Congress stands by Lincoln, ii, 59. 
Conkling, James C., Hon., i, 357. 
Conkling, Roscoe, ii, 171. 
Cooper Institute, Sumner's speech at, 

i, 369- 
Cooper Union speech, i, 326-330, 383. 
Convention, Bloomington, i, 292-300. 
Convention, Chicago, i, 340. 

— formally opened, i, 342. 

— nominates Lincoln, i, 347-356. 

— delegates to, i, 343-345 ". ii, 26. 
Convention, Decatur, i, 339, 340. 
Convention, Editorial, i, 289-292. 
Convention, National IJemocratic, i, 

362. 
Convention, Pekin, i, 195-197. 
Convention, Republican. (&(? Chicago 

Convention.) 
Convention, Springfield, i, 316. 
Convention, Union, ii, 193. 
Conway, Moncure, ii, 88. 
Corwin, Thomas, i, 349. 
Couch, Gen., ii, 142. 
Crafton, Greek, i, 273, 274. 
Crawford, Josiah, i, 199. 
Crawford, Mrs., i, 25. 
Crotty, William, Mrs., i, 320. 
Crume, Mary (Lincoln) Mrs., i, 6. 



Crume, Ralph, i, 6. 
CuUom, Robert 1\L, i, 133. 
Cullom, Shelby ^L, Senator, i, 133. 
Culloni, Gen., ii, 154. 
(-urtis, (jen., ii, 66. 
("urtis, Geo. Wm., i, 349. 
Custom House, New York, meeting 
in, ii, 249. 



D 



Dana, Charles A., Assistant Secretary, 

ii, 81, 144. 
Davis, David, Judge, partiality for 

Lincoln, i, 244-246, 267, 26S, 296, 

345- 

— sees New Jersey delegation, i, 350, 

351, 381 ; ii, 76, 254. 

Davis, Jelferson, i, 90, 208, 3S2 ; ii, 
39, 172, 174, 1S3, 210, 229, 230. 

Davis, J. McCann, i, 8. 

Dawes, Senator, ii, 56. 

Dawson John, i, 130. 

Dayton, of New Jersey, i, 347. 

Debates, Freeport, i, 363. 

Debates, Lincoln-Douglas, i, 281, 303, 
307-322, 326. ^ 

Defeat, Stillman's, i, 79. 

Democrats, organization of, i, 126. 

Department of the West, ii, 61. 

Derickson, D. V., Capt., ii, 154-156. 

Dickerson, E. N., i, 261, 262. 

Dickinson, Daniel L., ii, 249. 

Dickey, Judge T. Lyle, story of Lin- 
coln, i, 287, 288. 

Diller, Roland, i, 236. 

District of Columbia, slavery in, i, 228. 

Dix, Gen., ii, 167. 

Dixon, John, i, 83. 

Dodge, Henry, Gov., i, 83, 90. 

Dodd, Ira Seymour, ii, 137. 

Dougherty, E. C., i, 289. 

Douglass, Fred., i, 320. 

Douglas, Stephen A., i, 114, 126, 133, 

153- 

— phenomenal record, i, 159. 

— campaign of 1837-1840, i, 159, 163. 

— character, i, 160, 172, 173, 207, 267. 

— serious struggles, i, 280, 281, 284, 

306, 335, 33(»- 

— doctrine, i, 363, 378, 380, 3S2, 385, 

386, 391, 393, 414- ._ 

— holds Lincoln's hat, ii, 5. 

— ofTers aid to Lincoln, ii, 35. 
Douglas, Wm. A., i. 272. 



466 



INDEX 



Draft bill, ii, 147. 
Drake, C D., ii, 175. 
Draper, A, G., Prof., ii, 245. 
Dream, I'resident's, ii, 233, 234. 
Dresser, Nathan, i, 204. 
Drummond, Josiah, i, 345. 
Dubois, Jesse K., i, 113, 137, 158. 
Dubois, Lincoln, i, 410. 
" Duff Green's Row," i, 208. 
Duncan, Gov., i, 113. 
Durley, Madison, i, 200. 
Durley, Williamson, i, 200. 
Durrett, R. T., i, 4, 6. 
Discontent, Northern, ii, 53. 



Early, Capt. Jacob M., i, 86, 87. 
Eaton, Jolin, Gen., ii, 67, 68, 199. 
Eckert, Maj., ii, 134, 153, 165. 
Edwards, Cyrus, i, 229-231. 
Edwards, Benj. T., Judge, i, 178. 
Edwards, B. T., Mrs., i', 178. 
Edwards, Ninian W., i, 130, 158, 172, 

177, 178. 
Edwards, Ninian W., Mrs., i, 172, 176, 

191. 
Election, tables of, 1, 362-364. 
Elkins, Wm. F., i, 130. 
Ellsworth, Colonel of Zouaves, 1, 371 ; 

ii, 53; 

Emancipation, ii, 95, 96. 

Emancipation, message on, compen- 
sated, ii, 97. 

Emancipation, compensated, ii, 96, 
III. 

Emancipation Proclamation, ii, 116- 
126, 163, 171, 212. 

Emancipation Society, ii, 99. 

Embree, Elisha, i, 208. 

Emerson, Ralph, i, 264-266. 

Emerson, Ralph \V., i, 224. 

Escort, President's funeral, ii, 253, 
254. 

Evans, E. P., ii, 167. 

Evarts, Wm. M., i, 349, 353, 359- 

Everett, Edward, ii, 35. 

Ewing, Wm. D., Hon., i, 90, 113, 133, 
139, 158, 198. 



Farragut, Admiral, ii, 198, 202, 256. 
Farrar, B. G., Gen., ii, 63. 
Faxon, Charles, i, 289. 



Fell, Jesse W., I, 334, 345, 
Ferguson, John, i, no. 
Fessenden, William P., ii, 249, 
Field, David Dudley, i, 327. 
Ficklin, O. B., Hon., i, 320. 
Fillmore, Millard, i, 225, 30I. 
Filson, John, i, 4. 
Fletcher, Job, i, 130. 
F'ord, A. N., i, 289. 
Ford's theatre, ii, 242. 

— party at, ii, 235-237. 
Ford, Theodore, i, 113, 

Fort Pickens, ii, 16, 17, 19, 28, 3I. 
Forts Henry and Donelson, capture of, 

ii, 143. 
Fort Moultrie, ii, 14, 15. 
P'ort Sumter, i. So, 387 ; ii, 14-17, 19, 

28, 29, 31, 33, 100, 230. 
Fo.x, Capt., ii, 134. 
Francis, Simeon, i, 184, 1S5. 
Free soil, i, 218, 219. 
Freedmen, march of, ii, 257. 
Fremont, John C, Gen., i, 301 ; ii, 

58, 60. 

— appointment of, ii, 61. 

— charges against, ii, 61, 65, 

— relieved of command, ii, 66-69, ^^3, 

, 133. 174, 193- 
Fremont, Jessie Benton, Mrs., ii, 62, 

65. 
Fremont and Dayton, i, 300, 
Friend, Dennis, commonly called 

Hanks. {See Hanks, Dennis.) 
Frontier store, i, 62. 
Frye, Gen., ii, 148. 

Funeral journey. President's, ii, 254- 
260. 



G 



Gamble, Gov., ii, 174. 
(jarlield, (ien., ii, 249. 
Garrison, Wm. Lloyd, i, 224, 304 ; ii, 

230. 
Gentry, Mr., i, 39. 
Gentryville, Ind., boyhood home of 

Lincoln, i, 18. 
Giddings, Ci. IL, i, 208, 224, 292, 34c. 

— letter to Lincoln, i, 368. 

— describes cabinet meeting, ii, 20-22. 
Gillespie. Judge, i, 205, 230, 405, 406, 

409. 
Gilmer, John A., i, 393. 402. 
Gihiiore, James R. (Kdmund Kirke), 

" Personal Recollections of Abraham 

Lincoln," ii, 171, 172. 



INDEX 



467 



Goggin of Virginia, i, 382. 
GoUalier, Austin, i, 14, 15. 
Graham, Christopher Columljus, Dr., i, 

10, 14, 35. 
Graham, Mentor, i, 61, 66, luo, 117. 
Grant, Mrs., ii, 235, 236. _ 
Grant, Ulysses S., Gen., in the West, 

ii, 143, 144- 

— appointed Lieutenant-General, ii, 

145, 170. 

— mentioned for Presidency, ii, 1S6- 
1S9. 

— attacl<s Petersburg, ii, 194, 199, 208, 

225. 

— final movements, ii, 227, 233, 235, 

236. 
Greeley, Horace, i, 292, 303, 304, 307, 
315, 327, 344. 347. 349. 352, 354, 
369, 370. 

— editorials, i, 395, 39S, 41S ; ii, 117, 

iiS, 119. 

— opposes Lincoln, ii, 171, 172, 193- 

198. 
Green, Bowling, " Squire," i, iio, in. 
Greene, friend of Lincoln, i, 66, 67, 

75, 76- 
Grigst)y, Aaron, i, 27. 
Grigsby, Nat., i, 43. 
Grigsby, Sarah Lincoln, Mrs., i, 13, 

Grimes, Senator, ii, 246, 247. 
Grosscup, Peter Stenger, Hon., ii, 113, 
Grow, G. A., Hon., ii, 21, 42, .3. 
Gurley, Dr., pastor of Lincoln, ii, 244, 
249, 252, 253. 



H 



Hale, Edward Everett, Rev,, ii, 97, 
Hale, J. T., Hon., i, 392. 
Hall, Levi, i, 47, 49. 
Halleck, H. W., Gen., ii. 84. 

— appointed C;eneral-in-Chief, ii, 128, 

130, 134. 135. 139. M". 143. 144. 

154- 
Hallucination, i, 404. 
Halstead, Murat, i, 349, 352. 
Hamlin, Hannibal, Vice-President, 
meeting with Lincoln, i, 37S, 397, 

398- 

— loyalty to Lincoln, ii, l8g. 

Hanks, Benjamin, i, 7. 
Hanks, Dennis, i, 14, 22, 33. 
Hanks, John, i, 58, 65. 
Hanks, Joseph, i, 7, 8. 



Hanks, Joseph, brother of Nancy, i, 

7. 232. 
Hanks, Nancy. {Stc Nancy [Hanks] 

Lincoln, Mrs.) 
Hanks, Nancy (Shipley), Mrs., i, 7. 
Hanks, William, i, 7. 
Hardie, Col., ii, 153. 
Hardin, John J., Col., i, 114, 158, 

166, 180, 189, 194-197, 202-206, 212. 
Harding, Col., ii, 64. 
Harding, George, relates meeting of 

Lincoln and Stanton, i, 260-264. 
Harlan, James, Hon., i, 423-425; ii, 4, 

II, 103, 198, 232. 
Harris, Lieut., i, 83, 84. 
Harris, Ira, Senator, ii, 236, 237. 
Harris, Miss, ii, 237. 
Harrison, Peachy, i, 273-275. 
Harrison, Wm. Hcnrw Ccn., i, 163. 

165, 166. 
Hawley, Joscjih, i, 349. 
Hay, John, ii, 40. 
Hazel, Caleb, i, 16. 
Head, Jesse, Rev., marries Thomas 

Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, i, 10,35. 
Helm, Mrs., i, 179. 
Henderson, T. J., Gen., i, 165. 
Henderson, John B., secures pardons 

from Lincoln, ii, 223-225. 
Henderson, Wm. H., i, 166. 
Henry, A. (}., Dr., i, iSo, 323. 
Henry, Gen., i, 81-84. 
Hcrndon, .'\rthur, i, 130. 
Herndon Brothers, i, 92. 
Herndon, James, i, 92. 
Herndon, Rowan, i, 92, 106. 
Herndon, Wm, H., i, 29, 33. 40, 44. 

57, 58, 62, 105, 106, 174-177. 179. 

192, 214, 239, 249, 259, 269, 295, 

304, 409. 
Herndon and Weik, i, 250. 
Hicks, of New ^■ork, i, 373. 
Hill and .McNeill, i, 91. 
Hill, John, i, 255. 
Hill, Samuel, i, 106, 1 17; ii. 90. 
Hingham, Mass., arrival of Lincoln 

family in, i, i. 
Hitchcock, Caroline Hanks, Mrs., 

compiler of genealogy of Hanks 

fa.nilv in .\merica, i, 7. 
Hitt, Robert L., Hon., i, 277, 315 

322. 
Hoar, Gen., i, 224. 
Hogan, John, Rev., i, 166. 
f Looker. Joseph, Gen., relieves Bum- 
side, ii, 135. 



468 



INDEX 



Hooker, Joseph, receipt of President's 
letter, ii, 136-139, 162, 170. 

Howells, W. D., i, 370. 

Hospitals, ii, 157-161. 

Houston, Sam, Gov., ii, 20-23. 

Hoyt, Col., i, 353. 

Hunter, David, Gen., i, 379, 396; ii, 
64, 67, 68, 102, 254. 

Hunter, R. M. T., ii, 2IO, 211. 

Hurlburt, Gen., ii, 218, 219. 

Hyer, Tom, i, 343. 344- 



lies, Capt., " Footsteps and Wander- 
ings," i, 80-84, 86. 
Illinois, Convention system of, i, I, 93. 
Illinois, Eighth Judicial Circuit of, i, 

242-245. 
•^ Ninth General Assembly of, iii- 

114, 124-126. 

— Tenth General Assembly of, i, 127, 

132, 142-145. 147. 159- 

— State taxes, i, 185. 

— Address to the people of, i, 193. 
Inauguration Ball, i, 209. 

Internal improvements, public utility 
of, i, 67-72, 



Jackfion, Andrew, Gen., i, 396; ii, 12. 

James, B. F., i, 202. 

Jayne, Julia, Miss, i, 1S5, 186, T91. 

Jefferson, Joseph, Autobiography of, i, 
248, 249. 

Jefferson, Thomas, i, 35, 325, 380,414. 

Johnson, Andrew, i, 208. 

Johnson Reverdy, i, 261, 262, 

Johnson, e.x-Governor, ii, 176. 

Johnston, Albert Sidney, i, 90. 

Johnston, Gen., ii, 208, 226. 

Johnston, Jolin, half brother of Lin- 
coln, i, 21, 233, 238. 

Johnston, A. E. H., Maj., ii, 130, 

Johnston, Matilda, i, 21. 

Johnston, Sally Bush. (.SV^ Lincoln, 
Sally [Bush], Mrs.) 

Johnston, Sarah, i, 21. 

Jones, of Gentryville, i, 34. 

Jones, J. Russell, ii, 187-189. 

Jones, Wm., Capt., i, 48. 

Jones, of Cincinnati, i, 373, 374. 

Judd. Norman B., i, 275, 277, 278, 
316, 324, 339, 345. 



Judd, Norman B., nominates Lincoln, 

i, 354, 418, 420,422. 
Judd, Norman B., Mrs., i, 277, 278. 
Julian, George W., i, 39S ; ii, 5, 94. 



K 



Kansas-Nebraska Bill, i, 280-284. 

Keene, Laura, ii, 235, 236. 

Kellogg's Grove, skirmish of, i, 87. 

Kellogg, Wm., i, 391. 

Kelley, William I)., Judge, i, 345, 359. 

Kelso, Jack, i, 93, 107, no. 

Kidd, T. W. I., i, 251, 252. 

King, Preston, i, 292, 349. 

Knox, Joseph B., i, 277, 



Lamar, John, Capt., i, 32. 

Lamon, Marshal, ii, 254. 

Lamon, Ward, i, 251, 268, 269, 419; 

ii, 254. 

Lane, Henry S., i, 346, 352. 

Lane, Senator, ii, 37, 173. 

Law, martial, established, ii, 243. 

Lawrence, Geo., i, 412. 

Lecompton Constitution, i, 303. 

Lee, Gen., ii, 120, 131, 134, 140-142, 
193, 20S, 229. 

Leighton, George, Col., ii, 63, 65. 

Levering, Mrs., i, 17S. 

Levis, Edward, i, 188, 189. 

Libby Prison, ii, 229. 

Liberty Men, i, 200-202 

Lieber, Francis, ii, 13. 

Lincoln, Abraham, of Berks Co., i, 2. 

Lincoln, Abraham, cousin of the Presi- 
dent, i, 232. 

Lincoln, Abraham, son of John, i, 3, 

Lincoln, Abraham, of Rockingham 
Co., Va., i, 8. 

Lincoln, Abraham, President, birth, 
Feb. 12, iSog, i, 14. 

— early childhood, i, 14-17. 

— boyhood in Indiana, i, lS-27. 

— life on the farm, i, 21. 

— desultory education, i, 29-34. 

— effect of tragedies, i, 27, 28. 

— backwoods orator, i, 36. 

— first dollar, i, 38. 

— on Ohio and Mississippi rivers, i, 

37-40._ 

— impression on others, i, 40-44. 

— clearness in argument, i, 43, 44. 



INDEX 



469 



Lincoln, Abraham, leaves Indiana, 
1830, for Decatur.Tll., i, 45-49. 

— first monument, i, 46. 

— strength and appearance, i, 49-51. 

— rail splitting, i, 49, 51. 

— flat boating, i, 51-56. 

— sees slavery, i, 57, 58, 200, 222. 

— in New Salem, 1S31-32, i, 59-67. 

— authority, i, 64. 

— speech to beat, i, 65. 

— honesty, i, 65. 

— grammar, i, 66. 

— "practicing polemics," i, 66. 

— studying men, i, 66. 

— candidate for General Assembly «f 

.the State, March, 1832, i, 67-72. 

— piloting the " Talisman," i, 72. 

— Capt. of Sangamon Company, i, 75- 

77. 

— Black Hawk War, i, 7S-S7. 

— disbanded at Whitewater, Wis., i, 

87, 88. 

— candidate for State Assembl}-, i, 89- 

— storekeeper in New Salem, i, 91-96. 

— reading, 93-94. 

— postmaster in New Salem, 5, 96-()S. 

— message on compensated emanci- 

pation, ii, 96-9S, 100, loi. 

— summer of 1833, i, 98. 

— surveying, i, 99-101. 

— appalling debt, i, 104, 105. 

— relations with community, i, I06. 

— elected to Illinois legislature, 1S34, 

i, 108, 109. 

— studying law, i, 109, no. 

— in Ninth Assembly, i, 111-115. 

— meeting with Stephen A. Douglas, 

i, 114. 

— love for Ann l\utledgc,i, 116-121. 

— intellectual equipment at twenty-six, 

i, 121-123. 

— lirst experience as legislator, i, 124- 

126. 

— campaign for Tenth Assembly, 

1836, i, 127-129. 

— reelected, i, 130. 

— admitted to bar at Springfield, i, 

132. 

— work in Tenth .Assembly, i, 132-144. 

— social life in Vandalia, i, 145, 146. 

— Major Stuart's partner, i, 147. 

— removes to Springfield, i, 147. 

— Mary Owens, i, 149-153. 

~- controversy with (Jen. Adams, i, 
155-157- 



Lincoln, Abraham, clever strategist, 1, 

157. 15S. 

— meeting with Douglas, i, 159. 

— campaign against Douglas, l837-« 

1S40, i, 159-163. 

— campaign of 1840, i, 160-169. 

— • monster political meetings, i, 165. 

— social life in Springfield, i, 170-172. 

— engagement to Mary Todd, i, 172, 

I73-. 

— breaking of engagement to Mary 

Todd, i, 174-181. 

— friendship with Speed, 1, 181-184. 

— encounter with Shields, i, 1S4-190. 

— marries Mary Todd, i, igo, I9I. 

— candidate for Congress, 1S42, i, 

192-194. 

— supports Baker and Ilardin, j, 194- 

197. 

— Pekin convention, 1843, i, 195-197. 

— campaign work, i, 197-199. 

— fears Hardin's reelection, i, 202-206. 

— elected to Congress, August, 1846, 

i, 206. 

— in Washington, 1847, i, 207-212. 

— Spot Resolutions, i, 212-215. 

— forms '* Young Indian " club, i, 

216. 

— speaks for Taylor, i, 216, 220. 

— slavery question, i, 220-224. 

— at Niagara, i, 225, 226. 
— ■ an inventor, i, 227. 

— bill to .abolish slavery in District of 

Columbia, i, 228. 

— end of congressional career, IS49, 

'' 299- 

— refutes Edwards accusation, 1, 230, 

231. 

— declines governorship of Oregon, i, 

232. 

— assists relatives, i, 232-234. 

— with children, i, 235-237 ; ii, 87, 88. 

— religion, i, 237, 23S. 

— devotion to study, 23S-240. 

— abandons jjolitics for law, i, 241. 

— on the Kighth Circuit, i, 242-247. 

— humor and helpfulness, i, 246, 247. 

— conduct of cases, i, 247-256. 

— telling stories, i, 253-256. 

— place in legal circle, i, 257. 

— defence of slave girl, i, 257, 258. _ 

— case of Illinois Central Railroad, i, 

258, 259. 

— meets St.mton, i, 260-264. 

— ;\lcCormick case, i, 260-206. 

— fees, i, 267-270. 



47 o 



INDEX 



Lincoln, Abraham, Armstrong murder 
case, i. 270-273. 

— Harrison murder case, i, 273-275. 

— Rocii Island Bridge case, i, 275- 

278. 

— Missouri Compromise, i, 279-299. 

— campaign under Fremont and Da)-- 

ton, i, 300. 

— proposed as candidate for \'icc- 

Presidency, June 17, i, 300. 

— Lincoln-Douglas debates, i, 302- 

326. 

— speeches in New Enrdand, i, 330- 

332. 

— a national figure, i, 332, 333. 

— autobiography, i, 338. 

— the rail candidate, i, 340, 353. 

— Cooper Institute speech, i, 326, 330, 

341- 

— newspaper support, i, 339, 341. 

— compromise candidate, i, 347. 

— nomination for President, 1G60, i, 

350-358. 

— campaign, i860, i, 359-372- 

— letter of acceptance, i, 361. 

— visitors, i, 373-375- 

— policy of silence, i, 376-378. 

— certainty of election, i, 37S-384. 

— election day, i, 384-3S6. 

— votes for, i, 386. 

— President elect, i, 3S7. 

— news of disruption, i, 387-389. 

— replies to appeals, i, 390-395. 

— cabinet, i, 398-403, 423-426. 

— simple propositions, i, 2, 3, 4, i, 

30, 397- 

— prepares inaugural address, i, 403. 

— events preceding inauguration, i, 

404-410. 

— journey to Washington, i, 411-423. 

— first inauguration, ii, I-13. 

— decides fate of l'"ort Sumter, ii, 14- 

— prevents accessions to the Confeder- 

acy, ii, 19-22. 

— besieged by office-seekers, ii, 23- 

26. 

— Seward's attitude to, ii, 26-30. 

— reply to Seward, ii, 30-32. 

— preparing for Civil War, ii, 33-45. 

— conditions in the White House, ii, 

45-48- 

— relation to the common soldier, ii, 

49. 50. 

— impresses others, ii, 51, 52. 

— how to use the army, ii, 52-55. 



Lincoln, Abraham, battle of Bull Run, 

ii, 55-57- 

— gives McClellan command, ii, 59. 

— " Memoranda of Military Policy 

Suggested by Bull Run Defeat." 

ii. 57, 58- 

— improves morale of officers and men. 

ii, 60. 

— trouble with Fremont, ii, 6r j6. 

— disappointment in McClellan, ii, 69, 

70. 

— receives news of Col. Baker's death, 

ii, 70, 71. 

— Trent affair, ii, 72-75. 

— rights of neutrals, ii, 72-75. 

• — trouble in ofiicial family, ii, 76-78. 

— appoints Stanton, ii, 78-So. 

— first encounter with Stanton, 1S65, 

ii, 79. 

— defends McClellan, ii, 8r, 83. 

— memorandum of military policy, ii, 

83- 

— military authority, ii, 84, 85. 

— war order, first special, ii, 86. 

— bitter private sorrow, ii, 87-89. 

— r.eeks religious help, ii, 89-92. 

— receives committees, ii, 93. 

— issues war orders, ii, 94. 

— denounced, ii, 95. 

— plans Compensated Emancipation, 

ii, 96-101. 

— revokes Hunter's order, ii, 102. 

— offers to resign, ii, 103, 104. 

— in the War Department, ii, 105- 

107. 

— difficulties with INIcClellan, ii, 107- 

iio, 12S-133. 

— address to Border State representa- 

tives, ii, 111-113. 

— seeks a General, ii, 127. 

— appoints Halleck, ii, 128. 

— appoints liurnside, ii, I33-I35' 

— appoints Hooker, ii, I35-137. 

— reviews army, ii, 137, 13S. 

— receives war news, ii, 138, 142. 

— notices Grant, ii, 143, 144. 

— interview with Leonard Swett, ii, 

ii3-"5- 

— k'mancipation Proclamation, a, 116- 

126. 

— appoints Grant Lieutenant-General, 

ii. 145- 

— filling the ranks, ii, 146-149. 

— personal friend of soldiers, ii, 150- 

157. 

— in the hospitals, ii, 159-161. 



INDEX 



47 r 



Lincoln, Abraham, sorrow in punish- 
ing deserters, ii, 161-169. 
. — suspends execution:;, ii, 164-168. 
— in 1S63, ii, 170. 

— oppciscd by radicals, ii, 171, iSo. 

— substantial resuUs of policy, ii, 171. 

— conducts \'allaudighani case, ii, 

180-186. 

— finds out (jrant's feelings, ii, i.'^7- 

l8g, 199, 200. 

— ignores Chase's electioneering, ii, 

190. 

— renominated, ii, 191-194. 

— visits Grant, ii, 194. 

— calls for more volunteers, ii, 195. 

— meets Greeley's criticism, ii, 196- 

198. 

— alarmed by discontent, ii, 199. 

— duty if defeated, ii, 201, 202. 

— reelection, ii, 204. 

— reflections f)n the election, ii, 205- 

207. 

— letters to Sherman, ii, 209. 

— replies to Jefferson Davis, ii, 210. 

— meets Confederate envoys, ii, 211. 

— view of Emancipation Proclamation, 

ii, 212-216. 

— reconstruction, ii, 217-219. 

— a mighty problem, ii, 220, 221. 

— explains Emancipation Proclama- 

tion, ii, 222. 

— second inaugural, ii, 222, 223. 

— pardons prisoners of war, 223-225. 

— at City Point, ii, 225, 227. 

— enters Richmond, 227, 228. 

— orders draft suspended, ii, 229. 

— change in appearance, ii, 232. 

— feelings at the end of the war, ii, 

231. 

— the 14th of April, ii, 232-237. 

— " the President is shot," ii, 23S- 

242. 

— death of, ii, 243, 244. 

— mourning for, ii, 245-251. 

— funeral of, ii, 250-260. 

— grave of, ii, 260. 
tributes to, ii, 261. 

— the real, ii, 261, 262. 

Lincoln and Herndon, i, 24I 267, 315. 
Lincoln, Daniel, i, i. 
Lincoln, Enoch, i, 2. 
Lincoln family, i, i. 
Lincoln, George, of Brooklyn, i, 375. 
Lincoln, Jacob, i, 3. 
Lincoln, John, called "Virginia John, ' 
i, 2. 



Lincoln, Josiah, I, 6. 
Lincoln and Lamon, i, set. 
Lincoln, Levi, i, 1. 
Lincoln, Levi, Jr., i, 2. 
I,incoln, Mary (Shipley), Mrs., i, 8. 
Lincoln, Mary Totld, .Mrs., family of, 
i, 172. _ 

— engagement to Lincoln, i, 173. 

— engagement broken, i, 174-179, 181, 

184. 185. 

— marries Lincoln, i, 190, 191,366; 

ii, 37, 231, 236, 237, 252. 
Lincoln, Mordecai, i, 2. 
Lincoln, .Mordecai, second, i, 2. 
Lincoln, Mordecai, grandson of John, 

i, 5. C>- 
IJncoln, .Mordecai, brother of Thomas, 

i, 8, 232. 
Lincoln, Mordecai, cousin of the Presi- 
dent, i, 232. 
Lincoln, Mordecai, uncle of the Presi- 

ilent, i, 232. 
Lincoln, Nancy, called Sarah, i, 14. 
Lincoln, Nancy (Hanks), .Mrs., mother 

of the Presitlent, i, 7, 8, 19, 20, 22, 

27, 35, 220. 
Lincolns of Hingham, i, 366. 
Lincoln, Robert, son of the President, 

i. 330 ; ii, 233, 242. 
Lincoln, Sally Bush, Mrs., marries 

Thomas Lincoln, i, 21. 

— relation with stepson, i, 32. 

— her character of Lincoln, i, 44. 

— death, i, 169. 

— visited by Lincoln, i, 408. 
Lincoln, Samuel, of Hingham, i, r, 

217. 
Lincoln, Sarah, sister of the President. 

(See Grigsby, Sarah [Lincoln], -Mrs.) 
Lincoln, Tad (Thomas), son of the 

President, i, 236; ii, 87, 88, 157, 

252. 
Lincoln, Thomas, i, I. 
Lincoln, Thomas, father of the Presi. 

dent, i, 6. 

— marriage with Nancy Hanks, i, 7, 

S-io. 

— position in Hardin Co., i, 13. 

— birth of son .Vbraham, i, 14. 

— emigrates to Indiana, i, iS. 

— marries .Mrs. Sally Bush JohnstOQ, 

i. 21, 25, 35. 

— leaves Indiana for Illinois, i, 45, 47 

— poor livelihood, i, 147, 220. 

— illness, i, 23S. 



4/2 



INDEX 



Lincoln, Willie, son of the President, 

ii, 87. 
— death of, ii, 89, 253. 
Linder, Gen., " Reminiscences" of, 

i, I, 40, 136, 254. 
Logan, John, Judge, i, ()i, 133, 252, 

274, 337, 345. 354- 
Logan, Stephen T., i, 89, 113. 
Longfellow, Henry W., i, 224. 
** Long Nine," the, i, 130, 153. 
"Lost Speech," i, 296. 
Lott, Elijah, i, 189. 
Louisiana Purchase, i, 279. 
Lovejoy, Elijah, anti-slavery editor, i, 

143, 221. 
Lovejoy, Owen, i, 322 ; ii, iii, 
Lowell, James Russell, ii, 65, 224, 231. 
Lundy, Benjamin, editor of the 

"Genius," i, 35. 
Lutes, William, i, 25. 
Lyon, Gen., ii, 63. 
Lynching prevented, ii, 247, 248. 



McPherson, it, 170. 

McRae, of North Carolina, i, 382. 

Meade, Gen., ii, 140-142, 165, 166, 

168. 
Medill, Joseph A., Hon., i, 295, 316, 

322. 

— " Reminiscences," i, 339, 347, 349. 

— takes message to President, ii, 14S, 
149. 

Merryman, E. IL, i, 186, 187-189. 

Militia, call for, ii, 34. 

Mexican War, i, 212-215, 219, 291, 

320. 
Missouri Compromise, i, 35, 257, 279- 

299. 
Mill, John Stuart, ii, 75. 
Morgan, E. U., Gov., i, 292. 
Morris, i, 204. 
Morrison, Don, i, 229, 231. 
Morton, Oliver P., i, 292. 
Moultrie, Port, ii, 14, 15. 



M 



Manny, John T. (.S'^'i* McCormick 

case.) 
Marshall, Humphrey, ii, 22. 
Mason and Slidell, capture of, ii, 72, 

73- 

— surrender of, ii, 74. 

McClellan, George B., Gen., story cur- 
rent of, i, 259. 

— takes command of army, ii, 59. 

— preparing for the field, ii, 69, 70, 

71, 80-85. 

— campaign of 1862, ii, 107-110, 120. 

— failure, ii, 127-133. 

— removed, ii, 133, 161, 202, 204. 
" McClellan's Own Story," i, 260, 
McClure, A. K., Col., i, 349, 398 ; ii, 

140, 141. 
McClernand, John A., i, 133, 274, 349; 

ii, I39-. 

McCormick, Andrew, i, 130. 

McCormick case, i, 260-266, 278. 

McCormick, Cyrus IL (SW McCor- 
mick case.) 

Mcllvaine, A. R., i, 208. 

McDowell, Gen., ii, 56, 108. 

McKenny, T. L, Gen., ii, 66. 

McLean, of Pennsylvania, i, 347, 352, 

354- 
McNeill, John, i, 117-119. 



N 



Neapope, 1, 74. 

New Salem, map of, 1, g. 

New Salem, scene of Lincoln's mer. 
cantile career, i, 59, 60. 

Nicolay, Jno. G., i, 176; ii, i, 37. 

Nicolayand Hay, "Abraham Lincoln, 
A History," i, 225, 390, 392, 393, 
410 ; ii, II, 31, 84, 85, 116, 142, 177. 

Norton, Charles, ii, 231. 

Norton, Miss, ii, 65. 

New York City, in mourning, ii, 270 

— meeting at t'ustom House, ii, 249. 

•^ Lincoln's funeral in, ii, 255-257. 



O 



Ode for the Burial of Abraham Lin^ 

coin, ii, 257. 
Ollicee, II. IL, ii, 151. 
Office seekers, ii, 23-25. 
Offut, Denton, i, 51, 59-65, 72. 
Oglesby, Richard J., i, 290, 322 340, 

345 ; ii, 235. 
Oldroyd, O. P., i, 345. 
Onstott, Henry, i, no. 
Order, first special war, ii, 86. 
Ordinance of 1787, i, 33, 34, 278. 
Osborne, Charles, i, 35. 
Owens, Mary, i. 133, 149-152, 173. 



INDEX 



473 



Palfrey, i, 224. 

Palmer, John M., i, 292, 322, 337, 

340, 345, 350, 357- 
Pardons, ii, 223. 
Parrott, John H., i, 10. 
Parker, Theodore, i, 303, 304. 
Patterson, (_ien., ii, 5S. 
Peck, Ebenezer, i, 126, 159. 
Perry, of South Carolina, i, 3S2. 
Petersburg, 111., laid out by Lincoln, 

i, loi. 
Pettis, S. Newton, Judge, i, 352 354. 
Phillips, Wendell, i, 224, 304. 
Piatt, i, 374. 

Pierce, Franklin W., i, 306. 
Pickett, Thomas J., i, 289. 
Pinkerton, Allan, i, 41S. 
Pitcher, John, Judge, i, 34. 
Plot in Baltimore, i, 419. 
Pollock, James, i, 20S. 
Pomeroy, Senator, ii, igo, 19I. 
Pope, John, Gen., ii, 12S-130. 
Poore, Ben: Perley, i, 211 ; ii, 47. 
Potts, Mr., ii, 152. 
Porter, Admiral, ii, 226, 22S. 
Preetorius, Emil, Dr., ii, 61, 173. 
Prescott, C. J., i, 397. 
Press, i, 365, 366. 
Prickett, Josephine Gillespie, Mrs. 

i. 405. . 
Proclamation, Emancipation, ii, II6- 
126, 163, 171, 212. 



R 



Radford, Reuben, i, 91, 92. 
Radicals, Missouri, ii, 172. 
Rails, i, 49, 98, 99, 366. 
Ralston, Virgil Y., i, 289. 
Randall, Gov., ii, 42. 
Rathbone, H. R., Major, 11,236, 237. 
— with Lincoln's assassin, ii, 239, 240. 
Ray, Charles IL, i, 290. 
Raymond, editor, i, 370; ii, 202. 
Reconstruction, ii, 217, 234, 252. 
Reeder, Andrew IL, i, 349. 
Republican party in Illinois, formation 

of, i, 2S9. 
Resources, national, ii, 206-208. 
Reynolds, i, 21, 75, 79, 80. 
Repeal of the Missouri Compromise, 

i, 279. 
■Richardson, Col., ii, 68. 



Richmond, condition of, ii, 228. 

Riney, Zachariah, i, 16. 

" River Queen," steamer, ii, 211. 

Robbins, Z. S., ii, 123. 

Rodney, Miss., i, 191. 

Rock Island I^ridge case, i, 275-278. 

Roll, John, Mr., i, 53. 

Rosecrans, W. S., Gen., ii, 135, 171, 

172. 
Rosevvater, Mr., ii, 134. 
Ross, Thomas, i, 411. 
Ruggles, J. M., Hon., i, 132, 195. 
Russell, W. IL, ii, 17. 
Rutlcdge, Ann, i, 9, 116-120, 121. 



Sangamon, navigation of, 5, 68. 

" San Jacinto," warship, ii, 72. 

Schneider, George, i, 290, 340. 

Schofield, Gen., ii, 173, 179. 

School, Old Carter, i, 199. 

Scott, Dred, i, 302, 303, 307. 

Scott, Gen., i, 82, 90, 396, 408, 419, 

420; ii, 3, 4, 16, 17-19, 30, 39. 54. 

56, 81, 127, 12S, 256. 
Scott, Judge, i, 166-168, 253, 254, 293. 
Schurz, Carl, i, 349, 359, 369, 3S0, 

399; ii, 9S-100. 
Scripps, Jolin L., i, 29, 322. 
Seamon, John, i, 53, 54. 
Secession, question of, ii, 8. 
Selby, Paul, i, 2S4, 2S9, 290, 292. 
Seward, Frederick, i, 419, 420; ii, 74, 

125. 

— stabbed, ii, 242. 

Seward, Wm. 11., Secretary, i, 224, 
303. 304. 335. 339. 343, 344. 35°, 
352-355, 357. 3'^>9, 370, 374, 3S0, 
3S1, 392. 399, 4«\ 402, 407, 420. 
424-426; ii, I, 6, 9, II, 19, 22. 31. 

— ambition, ii, 26-28. 

— some thoughts for the President's 

consideration, ii, 29, 30. 

— begins to understand Lincoln, ii, 

32, 5^'. 74, 76, 97. 99. "3. 125. 
189, 210, 211. 

— stabbed, ii, 242. 
Seward, .Mrs., ii, 28, 32. 
Shaw, B. F., i, 290. 

Sherman, Gen., ii, 49- 51, ^> HO, 

19S, 202, 20S, 226, 233. 
Shields, James, i, 22, 159, 172. 

— encounter with Lincoln, i, i84-l9a 



474 



INDEX 



Shipley Lucy- (,See Berrv, Lucv fShip- 

ley], Mrs.) 
Shipley, Mary. {Sfe Lincoln, Mary 

[Shipley], Mrs.) 
Shipley, Nancv. (5<y Hanks, Nancy 

[Shipley], Mrs.) 
vShipley, Rachel, Mrs., i., 8. 
Shipley, Robert, i, 8. 
Short, James, i, 105, 106. 
Simpson, l>ishop, ii, 252. 

— President's funeral oration, ii, 260. 
"Silver Grays," ii, 39. 

Simmons, Pollard, i, qq. 

Sixth Massachusetts, attacked by mob 

in Baltimore, ii, 37, 38. 
Slavery prohibited, ii, 215. 
Small, Col., ii, 43. 
Smith, Caleb B., Secretary, i, 354, 

402, 424, 425 ; ii. 19. 
Smith, Leslie, i, 166. 
Southern Confederacy, founding of the, 

i, 3S8 ; ii, 95, 104. 
South, threats of, i, 379-387. 
Speech, Lost, i, 296-299. 
Speed, Joshua, i, 128, 129, 147, 174, 

175, 179, 181-183, 190, 229; ii, 97. 
Spot Resolutions, i, 212-214. 
Spriggs, Mrs., i, 20S, 223. 
Springfield, condition of, i, 14S. 

— mass meeting in, i, 372. 

— election in, i, 3S4. 

— President's body brought back to, 
ii, 260. 

Stanton, ICdwin IVL, Secretary, in con- 
nection with McCormick case, i, 260— 
266. 

— appointment of, ii, 79-Sl, 106, 107, 

130, 134, 14S, 163. 

— impressions of Lincoln, ii, 234, 243, 

244- 257. 
Star of the West, ii, 15. 
Stedman, E. C, i, 371. 
Stevens, Thaddeus, i, 349, 353, 369. 
Stillman, Major, i, 78, 79. 
Stone, Daniel, i, 130. 
Stone, Gen., i, 419, 420; ii, 71. 
Strohn, John, i, 20S. 
Stuart and Lincoln, i, 15S. 
Stuart, John, Mrs., statement of, 1,177. 
Stuart, John T., Major, i, 90; 109, 

122, 158, 159, 181. 
Sturgis, Gen., ii, 68. 
Sumner, Charles, Secretary, i, 224, 301, 

303, 304, 369. 

— belief in Lincoln, ii, 73, 97, 171, 

229, 232. 



Sunderland, Byron, ii. 123, 

Swan. A. W., ii, 151. 

Sweeny, William, i, 398. 

Swett, Leonard, i, 337. 344- 345. 347« 

350, 353. 354, 357. 381 ; ii, 66, 113, 

115, 116, 17S, 200-203. 



Taney, Chief Justice, i, 306 ; ii, 12. 

" Talisman," steamer, i, 70, 72. 

Taylor, Bayard, ii, 39. 

Taylor, Dick, Col., i, 157. 

Taylor, Zachary, Gen., i, 79, 81, 82, 

90, 209, 218, 229 ; ii, 13, 
Texas, annexation of, i, 200. 
Texas, conflict in, ii, 20, 21. 
Thayer, Eli, i, 392. 
Thomas, William, i, 159. 
Thornton, H. W., Hon., i, 179, 180, 
Tilton, Theodore, ii, 230. 
Todd, Robert S., i, 172. 
Tompkins, Patrick, i, 208. 
Toombs, i, 216. 
Tracts, campaign, i, 369, 370. 
Trent, Alexander, i, 104. 
Trent, William, i, 104. 
Trent, packet ship, ii, 72, 76. 
Troops, call for, ii, 42, no, 146, 195. 
Troops, federal, ii, 53. 
Troops, review of, ii, 137, 138. 
Trumbull, Lyman, Judge, i, 322. 
Tuck, Amos, i, 359, 402. 
Turnham, David, Mr., i, 133. 
Twiggs, Gen., ii, 121. 

u 

Usher, Secretary, ii, 244. 
Usrey, W. J., i, 290. 



Van Bergen, Mr., i, 105. 

Van Buren, Martin, i, 197, 218. 

Vallandigham case, ii, 180-186,203. 

Vanuxem and I'otter, i, 250. 

" Virginia John." (iiV^" Lincoln, John.) 

Virginia, .secession of, ii, 36. 

Voorhees, ii, 203. 

W 

Wade, of Ohio, i, 347. 
Wallace, Mrs., i, 178, 1 79 



INDEX 



47 



D 



War, brutality of, ii, iq5, 
■ — early days of, ii, 158. 

— end of, ii, 230. 

War of 1S12, soldiers of, ii, 39. 

War records, ii, 43. 

Ward, Artemus, ii, 120. 

War orders, general, ii, 94. 

Washburn, i, 209, 210, 

Washburne, E. B., Hon. i, 315, 364, 

372, 392, 396, 423 ; ii, 203. 
Washington,!). C, in 184S, i, 207-211. 

— slave market' in, i, 228. 

— alarming condition of, ii, 3^-39. 

— arrival of troops, ii, 40. 

— a hospital, ii, 157, 158. 
Watkins, Thomas, i, 101, 104. 
Watson, P. II. {See McCormick case.) 
Webster, Daniel, i, 166, 207 ; ii, 43. 
Webster, Fletcher, i, 166. 

Weed, Thurlow, i, 225, 341), 355, 37S, 

3S1, 392, 395, 39S, 399, 402; ii, 25, 

21. 
Wcik, Jesse, i, 30. 
Weir, Mr., i, 130. 
Weldon, Lawrence, Judge, i, 247 ; ii, 

237, 239. 
Welles, Gideon, Secretary, i, 349, 359. 

403, 424; ii, 27, 113. ' 
Wentworth, " Long John," i 336 
Wharton, O. P., i, 290. 
White Cloud, i, 74. 



Wliite, Horace, i, 349. 

White House, arrangement of, ii, 46. 

Whitesides, Gen., i, 1S6, 1S7. 

Whitney, II. C., i, 239, 242. 

— reports Lincoln's lost speech, i, 296- 

299. 
Whiting, M;ij.-Gi-n., ii, 1S4. 
Whitney, Walter, i, 412. 
Whittier, John G., i, 224, 370. 
Wide Awakes. (See campaign 1S60.) 
Wigwam. {See Chicago convention.) 
Wilkes, Capt., ii, 72, 74. 
Wilson, R. L., i, 130. 
Wilson, Henry, ii, 171. 
Wilson, William P.., ii, 48. 
Willard, Henry, i, 349. 
Willis, N. P., impression of the Presi- 

tlent, ii, 51. 
Wilniot, David, i, 292,349, 39S. 
WilnKjt proviso, i, 222. 
Winters, Win. Hoffman, librarian, 1,33. 
Winthro]), Robert C, i, 207, 212. 
W(Jod, Fernando, i, 396. 
\\'right. Dr. J. J., i,'i7. 
Wrigiit, of Aiobilc, i, 373. 



Yates, Richard, i, 280. 
Yancey, William L., i,. 379. 



Printeil in the United Stales of America. 



